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Respect the will of the people
Hamlet study ignored
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Approximately 12 months ago the Hamlet Study for the hamlets of Terryville and Port Jefferson Station was completed.
The consultants for the study were Lee Koppelman, an experienced planner in the Town of Brookhaven for many years and now a professor at Stony Brook University; and Mr. Jim Tsunis, a commercial real estate developer, as consultant for the rezoning of commercial and industrial property.
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| | | Louis Antoniello, Hamlet Study chairman. File photo (click for larger version) | |
It is important to know that the proposed zoning changes were reviewed, studied and incorporated into the Hamlet Study by knowledgeable professionals respected in their fields.
A hamlet study for Terryville and Port Jefferson Station was approved by the Brookhaven Town Board last year. As time went by, the Hamlet Study Open Space and Parks Committee began to inquire about the portion of the Hamlet Study pertaining to the zoning changes, which we discovered had not yet been approved.
Our Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld has been working to get the zoning changes implemented but has come up against a Republican majority, 4-3, on the Town Board that refuses to provide approvals for the zoning changes for various political reasons.
The Republican majority states that it wants environmental studies completed before it changes the zoning on some of the properties discussed in detail in our Hamlet Study. This would be a waste of time and taxpayer money since these properties have already been reviewed by the consultants mentioned above on more than one occasion. Also, Town Attorney Karen Wilutis claims there may be legal implications.
The consultants studied the existing zoning on these properties; repetitive businesses in Terryville and Port Jefferson Station; the impact on our quality of life and property values; traffic conditions; and the environmental impact for each of the properties mentioned in the study.
The refusal to grant the zoning changes is nothing more than the Republican majority exercising its political agenda. The people of Terryville and Port Jefferson Station realize that the Republican majority is playing political games. It is insulting and we do not appreciate it.
Let's discuss two items pertaining to our Hamlet Study that display how the Republican majority continues to insult the people of Terryville and Port Jefferson Station.
Item 1
Several months ago Mr. Paul DeChance, BZA chairperson and an appointee of the Republican majority, issued a variance for a project to be built on a piece of property that is listed in our Hamlet Study. The property is too small to support the project and its location presents many problems with the existing traffic flow on Terryville Road. Mr. DeChance was informed in advance that the property was listed in our Hamlet Study and that as per our study the best use for the property was preservation due to the small size and the traffic issues. The Civic Association rejected the project for the same reason. Mr. DeChance ignored the Hamlet Study, the Civic Association opinion and the letter that I sent to him in advance of the meeting and provided the variance.
The project was passed to the Planning Board where Mr. Vincent Pascale, chairperson Planning Board, voted in favor of the project also ignoring the Hamlet Study and the Civic Association. Mr. Pascale was also appointed by the Republican majority. We now worry a project will be built on a piece of property too small to support it and cause numerous traffic and quality of life issues in the future.
Item 2
Several months ago a lawyer representing a developer sued the town to allow his client the right to build on a sensitive piece of property also mentioned in our Hamlet Study. A town attorney represented the town in court but lost the case. The town's Law Department did not inform our Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld or any person who worked on the open space portion of the Hamlet Study of the court's decision.
Fiore-Rosenfeld worked tirelessly to get the Law Department to appeal the case.
2009 is an election year and it is the opinion of many that the Republicans are afraid that if they approve the zoning changes recommended in the Hamlet Study they will insult people who support their re-election campaigns. So they continue to find ways to prolong the approval of our zoning changes with hope that projects will be approved for the properties and obviate the need for zoning changes.
I for one do not want to continue to pay the salaries of elected officials who continue to insult the hamlet I live in and think no one notices what they are doing. Everyone
notices what they are doing. The Republican majority members have lost sight of who they are: they are servants to the public; they serve us, we do not serve them; they lack vision for the 21st century. My issue is not with Republicans — it is with the people who happen to be Republicans who sit on the Town Board.
So today I issue "pink slips" to each member of the Republican majority on the Town Board. Good luck and good riddance. We can only hope that those who will replace the existing Republicans will have more respect for the people of Terryville and Port Jefferson Station, our Hamlet Study and the people who live in the Town of Brookhaven.
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