The first public hearing for a special exception use to allow a proposed 52-unit housing development to be built at the site of a former asphalt plant off Rogers Avenue was held by the Westhampton Beach Village Board last Thursday, March 3, at a virtual Zoom meeting.
The Village Planning Board has been reviewing the application for about two years, but in order to move forward, it also requires the special exception from the Village Board.
Plans call for a 52-unit condominium complex, dubbed “The Townes at Ketchaponack,” on 9.4 acres north of Rogers Avenue and south of the Long Island Rail Road tracks. The proposal includes 13 buildings, a community center, a pool and a tennis court.
Eight of the condominiums would be three-bedroom units, 36 would be two bedrooms, and eight would be one-bedroom affordable housing units. An onsite sewage treatment plant would serve the entire complex.
The developer is Rogers Associates LLC, a limited liability company that gives addresses in both Wantagh and Hicksville, the principals of which are Robert Behringer, James Haney III, Chris Haney and Keith Haney.
The Planning Board took lead agency status on a state required environmental study of the project, and approved a final environmental impact statement in August.
The Suffolk County Planning Commission heard the application at a meeting on March 2, according to Building and Zoning Administrator Brad Hammond, and the village is waiting for the commission’s report.
In addition to objections over increased density in the neighborhood, much of the discussion surrounding the project over the past two years has centered on traffic concerns — new traffic that would be generated by the development, and concerns that it would add to what neighbors have described as cars traveling through the area at excessive speeds.
Village Board members said last week that they were not ready to comment on the proposal and wished to hear the latest developments to the plan from developers, and also allow members of the public to speak.
Three community members spoke briefly, reiterating concerns they raised previously to the Planning Board about the scope of the project and what the increased density would mean for the village, as well as the traffic concerns.
Rogers Avenue residents Chris Clapp and Jessica Maguire both asked the board to consider the overall effect the project would have on the village. “We have to consider the whole impact on our village, not just on our street,” Maguire said.
Resident Jean Seyfert, a local real estate agent, complained that the entrance to the development was planned off Rogers Avenue, instead of a “main road” like County Road 31. She surmised that the development would add traffic to the Rogers Avenue neighborhood, and said that both communities should be able to co-exist without “one sacrificing for the other.”
Riverhead attorney Frank Isler, representing the developer, acknowledged that there was already heavy traffic — often exceeding the 25 mph speed limit — in the area where the entrance to the development was planned, at the intersection of Rogers Avenue and Rogers Avenue Extension, but noted that most of it was cut-through traffic, motorists seeking a shortcut from County Road 31 to Montauk Highway to bypass commuter traffic.
While he noted that enforcing traffic codes to slow down traffic and deterring the cut-through traffic would be the village’s responsibility, he said that the developers planned to create a three-way T-intersection, installing stop signs at the end of both roads and also at the project’s entrance.
“We’ve heard this concern and we share it,” he said. “Our residents who will be in our buildings will share it. We stand willing to stand with our neighbors and the village to make our roads safer.”
Deputy Mayor Ralph Urban noted that the village has been aware of the traffic problems. “We have been looking at this in the past, and obviously haven’t come up with a solution,” he said.
Mayor Maria Moore said the village was ready to invest in radar speed signs in the neighborhood to collect data on when cars were most frequently speeding.
Police Chief Steven McManus said the data collected would help his department determine the best times to deploy officers to the area to enforce the speed. He noted that the signs typically result in a 25-percent decrease in speed near where they are posted.
Moore said the signs would be installed soon, whether the project was approved or not. “No matter what happens, we’re going to do that,” she said. “You’ll see those signs going up in the next month or two.”
The board agreed to hold the public hearing open until its meeting on April 7, most likely in person at Village Hall.
Bill Sutton on Mar 9, 2022