ZBA Delays New Village Decision to April

The final approval for a $100 million plan that could bring 291 apartments to the spot of the vacated Swezey’s in Patchogue has been tabled by the (ZBA) to April at the earliest at Wednesday’s meeting at .

The plan proposed by Tritec Real Estate Company was approved by the Village Board of Trustees on March 10 with a , but requires the passing of a new variance by the ZBA to allow for some parking spots that are 9 feet by 18 feet and 8 feet by 18 feet in order to proceed.

In order to have the opportunity to discuss the variance with the village Planning Board, the ZBA passed a motion to leave the discussion open until their next meeting on April 6. A final decision on the variance will not be made during the public portion of that meeting, which is typically how the ZBA functions.

If passed, Tritec plans to construct 291 apartments, along with more than 46,000 square feet of retail space and 18,000 square feet of office space in the Four Corners section of the village. The project also includes a subsurface parking garage providing approximately 468 spots. Another 41 proposed spots consist of on-street parking.

These parking spot sizes are currently considered substandard in the village code, with the standard size currently 9 feet by 20 feet.

However David Sloane, an attorney for Tritec, claims that not all of the village parking spots fit into this classification.

“We have gone ahead and checked various public lots in the village,” Sloane said. According to a Tritec engineer’s report to Sloane, 703 of the 1,180 village parking spots, or roughly 64 percent, are undersized.

Nicholas Fuccillo, chairperson of the ZBA, said that those numbers and measurements will have to be evaluated.

Fuccillo said that the decision is important as it sets a precedent for others who bring similar requests to the ZBA.

Sloane also presented a re-drawn plan in which approximately the same number of parking spaces are at the standard size, but at the cost of having 20 foot aisles instead of 24 foot aisles. Sloane said that there are no requirements on aisles in parking lots.

During the meeting, discussion centered more on the number of parking spots the plan entails then the measurements. Members of the ZBA questioned Sloane on the exact number of spots the plan provides, of which it must replace 168 existing parking spots.

“We only asked the number to clarify the relief,” Fuccillo said after the meeting.

However, discussing the number brought up the possible cancellation of proposed on-street parking spaces on Lake Street. This is due to a condition that the plan passed through the village board of trustees under, in which proposed on-street parking spots do not count toward the overall number of spots that Tritec can claim their plan provides. As a result, 41 less parking spaces are counted, leaving 468 spots. This number is still over the required 459 spots Tritec was required to create said Sloane.

The proposed Lake Street parking spots are a concern to Chief Joseph Perry, who wrote a letter to the board of trustees that was read into the record at the ZBA meeting. Perry wrote that parking spaces would negatively impact the department’s ability to respond. The department is located on Lake Street.

“If the village doesn’t want parking there, we’ll take it out,” Sloane said.

The ZBA does not have the ability to reject the applicant based on those numbers, and is only able to consider whether or not to permit Tritec to make parking spots at the requested sizes.

“The relief requested by the zoning board is not a large relief to the overall project,” Fuccillo said.

However, this restriction did not stop some of the approximately 30 members of the public in attendance from commenting on the project during the public comments section.

“We are a little tight on parking right now,” said Thomas Keegan, co-owner of . “If we have to wait two more years, the economy’s gonna turn around someday, then maybe the hotel comes and that’s what’s when we spend $20 million to build the parking facility that we need.”

“In five or 10 years...it won’t matter how much this cost but whether or not you can park,” resident Stephen Fuoco said.

Veronica O’Neil commented that there currently isn’t enough parking for customers to her own business.

However, Fuccillo clarified that these are not concerns the ZBA can respond to.

“The board undersands what the concerns are, but many of these are for the village board,” he said. “The size is what we are allowed to give a variance on. For the questions you raise about parking, while we are sympathetic, we have to be fair to all parties involved.”

Rob Loscalzo, chief operating officer of Tritec, said that while obviously disappointed the issue could not be settled Wednesday, the company will conform to village standards.

The next Zoning Board of Appeals meeting will be Wednesday, April 6 at 7:30 p.m. in .