Nesconset assisted living facility debated

As the Smithtown Town Board considers a proposal for a three-story assisted living facility in Nesconset, the project's developers said they are rearranging the building layout to address some neighbors' concerns.

Amber Court Assisted Living Communities is seeking to build a 186-bed, 90,000-square-foot building on Lake Avenue. The 6.7-acre property, which is zoned light industrial and partly residential, is located near homes.

The town board, which would have to approve a special exception permit to allow the project to go forward, closed a public hearing on the issue last week.

Anthony Guardino, a Uniondale attorney representing Amber Court, told the town board at the hearing Thursday that some neighbors didn't want a truck loading dock on the south side near their homes and asked if the kitchen and loading bay could be put on the other side. "We are flipping the building," he said.

But more than a dozen opponents who live near the proposed project told the board the building would be too tall and large for the neighborhood, generate additional traffic and noise, and invade the privacy of those closest to it.

James Russell of St. James, who said he frequently visits family members who live next to the site, challenged board members at the more than 90-minute hearing to ride up to the site perched in a fire truck. That way, Russell said, the board could see how much of the neighbors' residences the future occupants of the center would be able to view from their windows. "Let us know what you can't see," he said.

Robin Marks, Amber Court's Long Island regional director, has said the assisted living center would be "affordable." Amber Court runs four facilities in Westbury, New York City and New Jersey.

Several advocates for the elderly and Alzheimer's patients spoke in favor of the project, noting long waiting lists at other facilities in the county.

Louis Alba, who said his wife is terminally ill with Alzheimer's disease, said, "I need a place that I can have my wife be as she's deteriorating. Just think about your family, your spouse, your siblings -- somebody's going to need care."

Amber Court is also requesting a variance from the town's zoning board to increase the maximum height of the building to 49 feet. A zoning hearing was held March 8 on the height variance and a request to have only one truck loading bay rather than the three required by zoning. A decision has not been made.