Practical development and smart land use have been cornerstones of the housing conversation in Suffolk County, with the housing problem being one that pushes out residents priced out of buying property, while new arrivals from New York City and Nassau County seek to escape to the suburbs.
Kings Park is now at the forefront of this conversation – at least in Smithtown – as public hearings have begun on a planned luxury apartment building in place of a vacant restaurant on Indian Head Road near the Kings Park LIRR Station.
The four-story building would include fifty units: 6 studio apartments, 35 one-bedroom units, 9 two-bedroom units, and 148 parking spaces. Apartment features include open concepts, designer kitchens, in-unit washer and dryers, high ceilings, quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, a luxury vinyl tile (LVT) flooring. Planned amenities include direct access to the LIRR platform, a fitness center, a clubhouse, on-site garage parking, and resident events and activities. The units are set to be pet-friendly and overviewed by a professional management team.
The building is planned to sit on 2.5 acres of land in the shopping center on the corner of Meadow Road and Indian Head Road, near Rite Aid and Kings Park Hardware.
The plan for the building comes off the heels of a 2016 revitalization plan for the hamlet, which spearheads the effort for “transit-oriented development,” a type of urban development that intends to maximize residential and commercial space within walking distance from a form of public transit. The effort to revitalize Kings Park is just part in parcel to a fully-revitalized Smithtown and possibly an updated master plan for the Town.
An open-house was held at the VFW Post 5796 on Church Street, where the public can view renderings of the project and ask questions of the developers, the architects, and the traffic engineers.
According to traffic engineers, the need for traffic-calming measures, such as an additional traffic light, are not anticipated to be necessary. However, engineers stipulated that the more specifics of the building itself need to be finalized before they can give a more accurate estimate of traffic impact. The logic with transit-oriented development is not just that public and mass transit options are utilized, but also what property owner Tony Tanzi describes as “symbiotic relationship parking.” While residents are away from their homes during the work week, parking spaces in the nearby shopping center can be shared with customers. In the later hours of the day, those spaces become available for the residents. Overall, fifty unit’s worth of vehicles, according to developers, would not be a significant strain on traffic.
A citizen in attendance, who wished to remain anonymous, said that she is concerned about increased traffic volume affecting her nearby development.
Tanzi and developer Anthony Bartone concede that subterranean parking would not be feasible due to the grade of the land.
The units will be for rental only with certain income requirements. Bartone says that if residents are paying one-third of their annual salary on rent, they’re being “set up for failure.” While Bartone said there are no set rent figures yet, he did say that the current communities in which his development firm operates sees figures of high-$2000s to low $3000s per month.
Bartone and Tanzi were asked by residents about the nearby family-owned stone cutting business. While the developers said that the family does not intend to sell the land or business, Bartone said they “would love to absorb the stone facility,” and that it would make “a ton of sense,” as it pertains to further development.
Tanzi said the family wants to perpetuate the business and he gives them “100% credit.”
Current Town zoning does not allow for building above two stories. The new comprehensive plan includes new zoning measures to allow for four stories, but the changes to the zoning measures will not take effect for several more months. Bartone said that they chose to continue with the project in anticipation of the changed code, saying that the new measures will “contemplate this height [of the building] exactly as we’ve designed it.”
Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) of the Thirteenth District attended the public hearing and voiced his concerns for the project.
“This is just another move to turn Kings Park into Queens,” he said. “I’m against it. One hundred people on one-eighth of an acre in a four-story building in a town where the biggest building is a two-story building does not fit the zoning or the aesthetic of the area. Where does that lay the groundwork for the rest of the area? If they [developers] get that, they’ll get thousands of apartments. It shouldn’t be fifty units, it should be twelve units.”
Trotta also renewed his calls for a path to ownership, especially for young prospective homebuyers.
“This is Suffolk County, if people want those kinds of buildings they can go to Queens,” said Trotta. “They say that people want to live in small studios in a development, but they don’t want to live in that. Young people don’t want to live there, they want single-family houses, but taxes are so high that houses are now cost-prohibitive. They become indentured servants. I’m a big fan of condos; it’s real estate where people can have pride in ownership.”
Eric Alexander, Director of Vision Long Island, also attended the hearing. Vision Long Island promotes “livable, economically sustainable, and environmentally responsible growth on Long Island through Smart Growth. Smart Growth focuses on infill, re-development, and open space preservation. It supports mixed-use, mixed-income communities that are convenient, attractive, pedestrian-friendly, and that make affordable housing and public transportation desirable and realistic.”
“We had so many meetings on projects just like this one, and this one in particular,” said Alexander. “We brought together architects, planners, businesspeople, and many others to see what the community wants when we try to design revitalization efforts for our towns. Just like in a community, not everyone has the same vision, so we have been careful to include everyone in these meetings. Projects like this have been well-received and we’re excited to see this one go forward.”
The project is in its fledgling stages, as public comments will continue to be heard and taken into consideration before the plan is put before the Town Council. Tanzi serves on the Zoning Board for Smithtown and has said he will recuse himself from discussions on this project. He is also the outgoing President of the Kings Park Chamber of Commerce.
