Former Huntington Station school field eyed for housing development

A 2.92-acre former athletic field for the South Huntington school district is the subject of a zoning change application to allow the construction of a 36-unit, mostly age-restricted housing development.

Dena Properties LLC is proposing a community of seven buildings with a mix of for-sale town homes and “flats” on West 23rd Street in Huntington Station called Nova Park. The school district sold the property to the developer in 2022 for $789,450 after a referendum, according to a district financial audit report.

The parcel is currently zoned for single-family homes and would need a zoning change that allows for condominiums, town homes and apartments, said Michael McCarthy, the attorney representing the developer.

Most of the units would be market rate and restricted to residents who are at least 55 years old, he said.

“This is going to provide alternative and diverse housing stock in Huntington Station tailored toward seniors,” McCarthy said Wednesday, a day after a public hearing on the zoning change application at the Huntington Town Board meeting.

“All of the studies have shown that most of the seniors that move into a development like this come from about a 3-mile range, opening up housing stock for younger families to move in,” McCarthy said.

The developer could not provide the cost of the units because market conditions are changing rapidly, McCarthy said.

Several units would be affordable housing available to first responders, in accordance with priority rules in the town code, McCarthy said. The affordable rate is based on an income formula stipulated by Suffolk County and the town. Those units would not be age-restricted.

There would be 24 town homes in five buildings, each with a driveway and garage. The other 12 units would be in two buildings of six units each. The community would have its own sewage treatment plant and would be located on a loop road that leads to West 23rd Street.

The school district sold the property with the understanding it would likely be used to build housing, specifically town houses, according to a letter from school board president Nick Ciappetta, which was read during the public hearing by South Huntington schools Superintendent Vito M. D’Elia in support of the proposal.

“For a number of reasons the board believes that this redevelopment will benefit the school district and the South Huntington community as a whole,” said D’Elia, reading from the letter.

The letter listed reasons for support, among them an increase in the tax base and improved assessed valuation, as the developers are not seeking any tax abatements; the revitalization of the surrounding area; and an increase in housing stock, especially for local first responders. The Huntington Manor Fire Department serves the area. 

The town board has 90 days to decide on the application.