Two Melville residents sue Huntington Town over development plan
The December vote by the Huntington Town Board will allow the creation of a walkable downtown in Melville, above, south of the Long Island Expressway. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Two Melville residents have filed a lawsuit against the Town of Huntington to overturn the approval of the Melville Town Center Overlay District that could bring up to 1,500 apartments to the hamlet.
The complaint was filed in State Supreme Court earlier this month, alleging that a comprehensive environmental study of the property was not conducted before the plan was approved in December.
The Article 78 lawsuit, which is used to challenge state and local government decisions, was filed April 3 on behalf of Dorothea Fitzsimmons and Dominick Feeney Jr.
On Dec. 10, the Huntington Town Board voted to create the Melville Town Center Overlay District, which will allow the creation of a walkable downtown in Melville south of the Long Island Expressway. The plan paves the way for up to 1,500 housing units in the area.
According to the lawsuit, the vote should be annulled because it was based on “numerous procedural defects” as it relates to the State Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQRA. That law requires voting bodies to consider the environmental impact of a project before moving forward with it.
“The Board's determination that ‘there will be no significant adverse environmental impacts’ in amending the Town's zoning code, Chapter 198 to create a 183-acre Melville Town Center Overlay District ... is contrary to law, arbitrary and capricious, unreasonable, illegal and unsupported by the evidence, and does not meet the requirements of SEQRA,” the lawsuit says.
The suit also says the project would have a negative impact on the Long Island aquifer, that there is no “meaningful plan” to mitigate a lack of sewer capacity and no "legitimate" traffic study.
The suit asks the court to stop the town from further advancing the application or development of the property and giving “reasonable costs and attorney’s fees and such other and further relief” to Fitzsimmons and Feeney.
Huntington Town spokeswoman Christine Geed said in an email, “the Town of Huntington does not comment on existing or pending litigation.”
Feeney is a former Dix Hills Water District manager for the Town of Huntington. He said there were many questions left unanswered during the public hearing phase leading up to the vote.
“It’s very concerning and there are still a lot of questions with no answers,” Feeney said.
Fitzsimmons declined to comment.
The Melville Town Center Overlay district was approved, 3-1-1, after five public hearings starting last spring. Town board member Sal Ferro abstained from the vote after being the subject of published reports that he had a business relationship with a Huntington developer, Newsday previously reported.
Town board member Brooke Lupinacci voted against the resolution because she said more research needed to be done.
Bayport-based attorney Lawrence Kelly, who is representing Fitzsimmons and Feeney, said the town failed to follow SEQRA, setting in motion a number of issues.
“A comprehensive study would have looked at the proposal and asked, ‘Is this the area for this type of intensive use?’” he said.
Two Melville residents have filed a lawsuit against the Town of Huntington to overturn the approval of the Melville Town Center Overlay District that could bring up to 1,500 apartments to the hamlet.
The complaint was filed in State Supreme Court earlier this month, alleging that a comprehensive environmental study of the property was not conducted before the plan was approved in December.
The Article 78 lawsuit, which is used to challenge state and local government decisions, was filed April 3 on behalf of Dorothea Fitzsimmons and Dominick Feeney Jr.
On Dec. 10, the Huntington Town Board voted to create the Melville Town Center Overlay District, which will allow the creation of a walkable downtown in Melville south of the Long Island Expressway. The plan paves the way for up to 1,500 housing units in the area.
According to the lawsuit, the vote should be annulled because it was based on “numerous procedural defects” as it relates to the State Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQRA. That law requires voting bodies to consider the environmental impact of a project before moving forward with it.
“The Board's determination that ‘there will be no significant adverse environmental impacts’ in amending the Town's zoning code, Chapter 198 to create a 183-acre Melville Town Center Overlay District ... is contrary to law, arbitrary and capricious, unreasonable, illegal and unsupported by the evidence, and does not meet the requirements of SEQRA,” the lawsuit says.
The suit also says the project would have a negative impact on the Long Island aquifer, that there is no “meaningful plan” to mitigate a lack of sewer capacity and no "legitimate" traffic study.
The suit asks the court to stop the town from further advancing the application or development of the property and giving “reasonable costs and attorney’s fees and such other and further relief” to Fitzsimmons and Feeney.
Huntington Town spokeswoman Christine Geed said in an email, “the Town of Huntington does not comment on existing or pending litigation.”
Feeney is a former Dix Hills Water District manager for the Town of Huntington. He said there were many questions left unanswered during the public hearing phase leading up to the vote.
“It’s very concerning and there are still a lot of questions with no answers,” Feeney said.
Fitzsimmons declined to comment.
The Melville Town Center Overlay district was approved, 3-1-1, after five public hearings starting last spring. Town board member Sal Ferro abstained from the vote after being the subject of published reports that he had a business relationship with a Huntington developer, Newsday previously reported.
Town board member Brooke Lupinacci voted against the resolution because she said more research needed to be done.
Bayport-based attorney Lawrence Kelly, who is representing Fitzsimmons and Feeney, said the town failed to follow SEQRA, setting in motion a number of issues.
“A comprehensive study would have looked at the proposal and asked, ‘Is this the area for this type of intensive use?’” he said.
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