The Smithtown Town Board reopened a hearing Tuesday on a proposal by Cox and Sons LLC to build a trucking station and outdoor storage facility in the Kings Park-Commack area, then adjourned the case to Dec. 15 after the applicant's attorney failed to appear.
A lawyer filling in for the case apologized on the absent attorney's behalf, saying it was "unavoidable" that he could not be there. "Our clients are doing their very best and spending a lot of money to make that property safe," he told the board, adding that the site has "a history of being dangerous and polluted."
Before adjourning, the board let the applicant submit a revised list of requested variances and allowed residents to speak so that anyone who could not attend the next hearing would still be on the record. The list was read into the record by a man identified as Matt, which still includes reducing a required front yard from 80 feet to as little as 47 feet, raising retaining walls up to 18 feet with fences on top, cutting required buffers to zero feet in places, and allowing outdoor storage area 14 times the building's floor space.
Several residents spoke against the project. Susan Kreitzman, who said she has lived in the area 57 years, told the board the proposal would change a residential neighborhood into an industrial one. "What you're going to do to this town is abominable," she said, citing noise, truck traffic and pollution, and noting that three schools feed off Plymouth Boulevard, where she lives.
George Eustad, who said he lives in Commack and co-chairs the Townline Association, described existing truck traffic problems on Townline Road, including speeding and overweight trucks, and said the community is already burdened by landfills and an incinerator nearby. "This is not what we need in Smithtown," he said.
Alan Kreitzman asked what streets the additional trucks would use and how large they would be, saying he could not follow the scope of the project. "I really don't understand what's going on," he said. Antonio Conte, a Kings Park resident, questioned how the project moved from the Suffolk County Land Bank's original request for office and construction space to a trucking depot, and said the number of variances sought was excessive. "It's incredible and disrespectful to the people to ask for the amount and depth of exceptions, is just ludicrous," he said.
The board also adjourned case 19602 to Nov. 17 and case 19604 to Dec. 15. The Cox and Sons hearing on case 19556 was also moved to Dec. 15.
Separately, the board approved several other variance applications without objection, including cases 19598, 19601, 19607, 19609, 19610 and 19611, each carried 4-0, as well as a negative declaration and the merits of case 19591.