Town Board and BZA to hear local restaurant’s plans for parking, noise concerns
By Chad Kushins
This week, the owners of upscale restaurant, Insignia, will be appearing at a public hearing before the Smithtown Town Board. They are hoping to achieve the needed approval to legally increase the size of their parking lot which, over the past few months, has become a hotly-debated topic in town.
For the past few weeks, the owners of the popular eatery have faced criticism from local residents, many of whom claim that Insignia’s patrons have been parking along the nearby residential streets when the provided spaces maxed out capacity. In addition, homeowners living directly behind the restaurant – which stands at the former location of Boulder Creek Steakhouse on the corner of Nesconset Highway and Mount Pleasant Road – have faced noise pollution, some claiming that a sound buffer would be needed to ease the negative effects of having a packed restaurant in such close proximity.
At the March 22nd meeting, to be held at the Eugene Cannataro Senior Citizen Center in Smithtown at 7:00pm, the owners are expected to make their presentation, angling for the needed variances which would allow the parking lot expansion.
“The variance has two major elements,” Assistant Town Planning Director David Flynn initially explained to Smithtown Matters. “Firstly, the request to set the parking lot from 100 feet down to 50 feet is one part. The second element would be altering what has been deemed ‘environmentally sensitive land’ – which really encompasses the first part of the variance, as putting in the parking lot is the alteration in itself.”
“There are two major things that this meeting will present,” Town Planning Director Frank DeRubeis concurred. “When Boulder Creek had its original zone changes, there was the 100-foot buffer on the structure’s north side. When the owners converted the restaurant into Insignia, changes were made to that site plan – something that would have come with its own restrictions.”
DeRubeis continued, “You have to request a Public Hearing, like this week’s meeting, for such zone changes. Also, whenever someone constructs a parking lot in town, one of the major standing restrictions is that it cannot be done on an area with less than 10 feet of groundwater … Insignia’s owners are expected to address both of these concerns.”
As previously reported in Smithtown Matters, the property on which Insignia now lies was already labeled environmentally sensitive due to its current groundwater table of less than 10 feet below the surface. Insignia owners previously received a summons for building a gravel parking lot without the receiving the necessary permits. The town had stipulated that co-owner Anthony Scotto and his partners leave a 100-foot gap – 50 feet of buffer and 50 feet of easement – between the restaurant and nearby residential properties when approving the building plans, but further construction could bring the parking lot closer to the homes in back of the restaurant by half that distance. Upon receiving the summons, the restaurant’s owners filed an application for an area variance to expand the parking lot and reduce the buffer from 100 feet to 50 feet, increasing the restaurant’s parking past what is required under town code.
Once closed in 2007, the Boulder Creek structure stood dormant for over two years, until plans for a massive renovation and reconstruction of the business was announced in June of 2010. At that point, residents quickly voiced their concerns over the groundwater impact, as previously, flooding had been a substantial problem during Boulder Creek’s existence on the same property. However, in April of 2011, the Smithtown Town Board unanimously approved owner Anthony Scotto’s site plan for the Insignia construction, which included a 3,011 square foot addition to existing building, increasing the total square footage of the building to 9,960 square feet. An outdoor dining area, measuring 1,751 square feet, was also added to the restaurant – the reason for the owners’ original ‘special exemption’ application.
Insignia is owned and operated by more than one investor, including Scotto, one of the original owners of the Boulder Creek Steakhouse which initially stood on Insignia’s spot. Scotto and Mario Sbarro, Boulder Creek’s other founder, ended their business partnership after it closed; Scotto now remains an owner of Insignia with three new partners.
“[Insignia’s owners] are going to make a presentation, showing what they need to do as far as the parking lot concerns,” said Town Councilman Ed Wehrheim, who explained that the Smithtown Planning Department has been composing its own suggestions and recommendations for the restaurant’s alterations. “Our Planning Department has been working on coming up with what we think could be a solution – a 10-foot buffer which would be fully landscaped … If it ran 40 or 50 feet deep, I think that it could make a huge difference and even enhance that small area.”
According to Wehrheim, the Town is set to present the buffer “suggestion” at the March 22nd meeting, as well. If then the Town Board sees fit to grant Insignia’s owners their variance, the owners will still require a recommendation from the Smithtown Department of Environment and Waterways, making the ultimate goal the dual approval of both the Town Board and the Board of Zoning Appeals [BZA]. Depending upon Thursday’s outcome, the issue could carry over to the latter’s March 27th meeting.
“When Boulder Creek came in, the original owners had promised us that it would be a low-key restaurant – and it was,” said Larry Vetter, a resident homeowner whose street, Brilner Drive, runs directly behind Insignia. “They did a pretty good job, initially, and even installed the buffer and kept an eye on the groundwater situation.”
According to local resident Larry Vetter, whose house runs directly behind Insignia’s back parking lot where the proposed buffer would lay, circumstances changed when the switch was made from Boulder Creek’s family steakhouse format to Insignia’s upscale reconstruction. While it was promised that the restaurant would remain the same size with little alteration, it soon became apparent to he and other residents that the construction would enhance the size of the full structure, as well as style. To many residents, Insignia’s current style and business practice is more akin to a nightclub than a restaurant – an accusation that the owners adamantly deny. In addition to the added noise that the popularity of the restaurant has caused, residents also remain greatly concerned over the property’s groundwater issues.
“As far as the groundwater,” Vetter previously told Smithtown Matters, “during the winter, it’s not really too much of a concern. In the past, however, spring and fall brought the most problems. In a particularly rainy season, the whole area is impacted.”
Insignia’s owners their Insignia’s owners could not be reached for comment.
.