Smithtown tree company given extension for site plan
This undated photo shows Reliable Tree Service in Smithtown. Credit: Daniel Goodrich
Smithtown zoning board members have given a 60-day site plan extension to a tree service company that has operated without a plan for at least a decade.
The five-member board voted 4-0 Tuesday night to grant the extension, with conditions, to Prisco Realty LLC, which owns and operates Reliable Tree Services at 927 Jericho Tpke. in Smithtown. Chairwoman Adrienne Giannedeo recused herself because she personally hired the company 15 years ago.
"The time has come . . . for the applicant to really do something with the property," said board member Edward Benz. "He's been given enough time, more than enough time."
Acting chairman Tony Tanzi Jr. said that while the board had "an opportunity to get the applicant to clean up the site by granting them an extension," the original six-month extension request by site owner Frank Prisco was excessive.
Town code requires a site plan -- an architectural and engineering document -- for new commercial construction and modifications to building exteriors and interiors.
The board imposed three conditions for the extension. Prisco must identify the property's buffer and setbacks, and remove outdoor storage from those areas within 15 days of Tuesday's meeting. He also must respond within 15 days to town departments' written comments about the application and install fences and plantings in property buffer zones within 30 days of site plan approval.
Attorney Vincent J. Trimarco Sr. of Smithtown, who is representing Prisco, called the extension request "fair," but declined to comment on the conditions because he had not seen them.
Prisco had previously been ordered to file a site plan within a year of a March 2011 conditional discharge agreement in Suffolk County District Court -- after the town issued violation summonses in 2003, 2008 and 2010 -- and failed to do so, said Smithtown Town Attorney Matt Jakubowski.
Neighbors have complained about fumes coming from open containers storing wood chips. Nearby residents at a July zoning board hearing also complained about Reliable Tree operating a used-car lot in the back of its property.
Ann-Marie Most, 42, who lives near the site, disapproved of the extension, saying Prisco had cut down trees and shrubs that shielded homes from Route 25.
"If he installs that buffer . . . I will be happy," she said. "My goal is just to get the place cleaned up."
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