Smithtown residents remain strongly opposed to trucking station proposal at former landfill

Smithtown residents at a town Board of Zoning Appeals meeting Tuesday evening reiterated their opposition to   plans for a trucking station and outdoor storage area on the site of a former landfill   in Kings Park, despite the developer's withdrawals of several requests for variances.

The proposal from Cox & Sons, submitted earlier this year, would redevelop the former Steck and Philbin landfill on Old Northport Road, which closed in the early 1990s. Much of the property is listed in the state's brownfield program, which manages the cleanup of contaminated properties and incentivizes redevelopment.

Cox & Sons is asking the town to grant it two special exceptions — one to build the trucking station and another to build outdoor storage in a district zoned for light industry. The developer originally also asked the town to grant 26 variances, including to allow it to reduce minimum parking setbacks, exceed the gross floor area and allow permits for taller light poles. The proposal is currently before the appeals board. 

But despite the developer's pullback on some of the variance requests, residents who live near the site and who attended the meeting, at the Smithtown Senior Center, expressed strong objections to the proposed development.  

Susan Kreitzman, of Kings Park, who said she has lived in the area for 57 years, asked the board to rethink any potential approvals, saying the project will “change the dynamics of the area.”

“What you’re going to do to this town is abominable,” Kreitzman said. “The trucks that will be coming down the streets, the noise, the pollution, the traffic, it’s going to change the whole atmosphere to its detriment, and I’m very, very concerned about it.”

George Husted, a Commack resident and co-president of the Townline Association, said the board should not approve the project, as a truck depot “is the last thing we need” in the area.

“We don’t need any more poor ideas from greedy landowners that do not follow the laws, rules, and regulations,” Husted said.

Antonio Conti, of Kings Park, told the board that while he is not against remediating the property, he said a trucking station “absolutely does not fit the character that we’re trying to achieve” in Kings Park.

The public hearing on the project has been adjourned until Dec. 15. Tony Tanzi, the zoning board chairman, said Wednesday in a short statement the board is waiting for the applicant to present updated plans.

"I am not certain at this point whether the board will vote at that meeting or a subsequent one," Tanzi said.

In August, a zoning board hearing on the project drew earlier opposition from residents who said they were concerned about increased truck traffic, noise and dust in the area if the trucking station was approved.

 In a September report, the town's planning department weighed in on the company's changes. The town report noted that while the revisions address "a number of prior concerns," the overall scale of the operation and remaining zoning relief the developer is seeking "remain substantial."

"The board should consider requiring further modifications to the amount and height of retaining walls," the document stated, adding that "more can be done to minimize potential impacts on surrounding properties and nearby residential and commercial public recreational uses."