Dix Hills luxury townhome proposal pending as opponents plan meeting

Community members who oppose a developer's plan to build 180 luxury townhomes in Dix Hills are planning a meeting Tuesday about the project, which is pending before Town of Huntington officials and would require a zoning change.

The proposed townhomes inside what would be a new gated community called Vanderbilt Estates Dix Hills would be for residents 55 and over and priced between $800,000 and $1.2 million, according to the proposal.

The project would involve the construction of 35 buildings on 24 acres, along with a pool, clubhouse and a subterranean sewage treatment plant.

Lou Giaquinto, a principal with developer Giaquinto Dix Hills LLC, said the company submitted an application to the town's planning department in January for a zoning change.

The Dix Hills resident told Newsday he believes the proposed development, which would be on Deer Park Avenue between the Long Island Expressway and Vanderbilt Parkway, would help improve the look of the thoroughfare.

“We also feel that the Dix Hills community needs some more housing options for the older community,” Giaquinto said. “We want to offer them a higher-end option to stay around their grandkids and family.”

Town of Huntington spokeswoman Christine Geed said Friday it’s too early to say when the town board would vote on a resolution to set a public hearing about a zoning change.

“This is the very beginning of everything that needs to happen to get to a zone change,” Geed added. “They are still in the process of submitting all of their documentation.”

The proposal is seeking a change from 1-acre single-family zoning to garden apartment special district for the acreage that has been created by combining the lots of Park Shore Day Camp, a landscape business and a flower shop — after the latter two businesses closed.

Giaquinto said the proposed community would be an upgrade from the landscape business and flower shop, which he said brought pollution, traffic, trucks and noise.

A recent Facebook post on a Dix Hills moms page announced that residents who are opposed to the development would gather for a meeting at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday at the Half Hollow Hills Community Library.

Janeen Aurrichio, who has lived down the block from the area of the proposed development for 24 years, said that while some of her friends are opposed, she plans on keeping an open mind while attending the meeting.

“If it’s going to be a luxury development, landscaped beautifully and it’s going to enrich the area, then I’m not opposed to it,” she added. “If it was going to be something monstrous and not conducive to being in Dix Hills, I would be against it.”