Westhampton Beach Village Board Gives Thumbs Up To Rogers Avenue Proposal, With Conditions

A proposed multifamily housing development on Rogers Avenue in Westhampton Beach came one step closer to reality this week as the Village Board unanimously approved a special exception permit allowing the proposal to move forward — but not without slightly reducing the size of the project and setting a host of other conditions that must be met by the developer.

Rogers Associates LLC had proposed building a 52-unit townhouse development at the site of a former asphalt plant on Rogers Avenue, including a community center, pool, tennis court and an on-site sewage treatment plant. The developer also requested that a scenic easement deeded to the village along the property line be extinguished.

The village’s Planning Board, following an exhaustive two-year review marked by strong opposition from neighbors of the development site, approved a preliminary site plan in February before kicking the application to the Village Board for the special exception review required to move forward. Following the Village Board approval this week, on June 2, the application will move back to the Planning Board for final site plan review.

But in a nod to the concerns of neighboring homeowners, the Village Board’s conditional approval limited the development to 48 units, a reduction of four units by eliminating one of the proposed 13 housing buildings closest to the neighbors on the southwestern side of the property.

Additionally, the board voted to maintain the scenic easement between the development and its neighbors to maintain a buffer, but will allow the developer to landscape the easement. The board also set guidelines as to the size and scope of affordable units in the development and set up a $25,000 traffic fund, paid by the developer, to mitigate traffic concerns that may result from the increased development.

“Our concern was with the proposed density and the impact it would have on the neighbors and the community as a whole,” Mayor Maria Moore said this week.

The building eliminated from the plan, containing four housing units, as included in the site plan, would have encroached on the scenic easement. By nixing that building from the plan, the board both reduced the project’s density and maintained the easement, which was deeded to the village before the asphalt plant closed in 2005 and the property was rezoned from industrial use to multi-family use.

“The board determined it appropriate to eliminate four units to mitigate the impact of the development and to maintain the scenic easement that had been dedicated to the village years ago,” Moore said. “The board denied the applicant’s request to rescind the scenic easement. We maintained the scenic easement but allowed it to be landscaped, which will provide additional protection to the adjacent property owners.”

Under the developer’s original plan, eight of the condominiums would be three-bedroom units, 36 would be two bedrooms, and eight would be one-bedroom affordable housing units. Under the board’s conditional approval this week, officials stipulated that the bedroom mix of affordable units shall be distributed in the same proportion as market-rate units, and that the size of affordable units shall be substantially identical to the size of market-rate units of the same bedroom count, Moore said.

“For every two units we eliminated, one was required to be a market rate unit and one was required to be an affordable unit,” she said. “The board was faced with balancing its concern over density with the need for affordable housing.”

Board member Brian Tymann said he was happy with outcome of the board’s review of the project and believes that the work of the two village boards will result in a development that will work for the village.

“I think that the project is a good one,” he said. “I also think that it has demonstrated that the village and its boards work very hard to act in the best interest of the community. Some residents of the area may not be happy, but I hope they see that we’ve listened to their concerns and did our absolute best to address them.”

While the density of the proposed project and the effect that would have on the character of the single-family residential neighborhood surrounding it was a major concern of neighbors throughout the Planning Board review process, many neighbors were also anxious about how it would affect traffic in the area — especially since the area has become a cut-through for motorists seeking a shortcut from County Road 31 to Montauk Highway to bypass commuter traffic.

Neighbors told horror stories of cars speeding down Rogers Avenue putting playing children and pets in the area at risk.

Village officials noted at previous meetings that they were aware of the traffic problems and had taken steps to address the issue, most recently by increasing the police presence in the neighborhood and installing radar speed signs to help control traffic.

As part of this week’s special exception approval, the developer will be required to set up a $25,000 traffic fund, to be managed by the village, to help mitigate the traffic.

“My takeaway from day one was that traffic and speed concerns were of utmost importance,” Tymann said. “That has been my focus — to identify the existing issues of speed and safety in that area and not only actively address them, but to avoid them getting worse. Speed humps, signage, a full 90-degree turn at the end of Rogers with a stop sign, increased police presence — I want people to know that Rogers and Hazelwood are residential communities that will not tolerate speeding. In fact, this development could be seen as a wake-up call to the safety issues happening already.”

Moore noted that although traffic studies conducted as part of the Planning Board review did not indicate that the development would create a discernible increase in traffic or speed in the area, the board “responded to the concerns of the neighbors and agreed to implement certain traffic calming measures,” including the electronic speed signs that will not only calm traffic but collect data to give the Village Police a better idea of when to deploy officers to the area for speed enforcement. The village also offered to install speed bumps and signage, she said, noting that the village will seek input from neighbors on what measures to employ.

“The developer offered to pay $25,000 toward the installation of any such traffic calming measures,” she noted.

The project will now go back to the Planning Board for final site plan review, with the conditions set by the Village Board in place.

“The Board of Trustees’ role was limited to providing a determination to the Planning Board after applying the requirements of the code,” Moore said. “The application is now in the hands of the Planning Board to work with the applicant on the layout, drainage, setbacks, etc.”

With the mitigations in place, Tymann said that he believes the project will have a positive impact on the village. “Overall, I think this project will be good for the community and I believe that with the level of scrutiny that the village gave to it,” he said, “the residents in the area and the community as a whole will be happy with it.”

“We did take a careful look and I believe arrived at a decision that struck a line between several differing perspectives on this project that will work for the benefit of community and the village in the long run,” board member Ralph Urban added.