Editorial - Smithtown Needs To Address Its RDD (Responsibility Deficit Disorder)

Faux-countability ? Nah, Smithtown has a Responsibility Deficit Disorder (RDD)!

Ruth Marcus, a Washington Post opinion writer, wrote an article, “Benghazi, Obamacare and the absence of accountability”, posted on the Washington Post website, January 21, 2014.  In the article Ms. Marcus makes the point that in every political scandal there is an accountability moment where someone accepts responsibility.  She explains that recent political accountability moments are too often about political point-scoring rather than problem-fixing… “Faux-countability” she calls it.

Here in Smithtown many people would undoubtedly welcome accountability… even faux-countability. In Smithtown, residents deal with a different diagnosis -  Responsibility Deficit Disorder (RDD). Here in Smithtown, no one (government and business owners) accepts responsibility for anything. 

One needs only to look at the Old Northport Road corridor to see how the manifestation of RDD negatively impacts residents and businesses. 

Business owners in the Old Northport Rd. corridor routinely blame the town for lack of planning, necessitating their illegal business practices. If only the town would adopt a plan, we would abide by it. We have been in business for decades, we need to violate town code to be profitable. The town needs to change its code to allow for this. We are violating the law, but it is not our choice.

The town’s position is: We “tried” to stop the illegal activities and have been unsuccessful in the courts; we are not responsible. Or the BZA approved it, the Planning Board gave it the go-ahead, the DEC etc., we are not responsible.

For years businesses in the corridor did whatever they could get away with and they got away with a lot: illegal mining, dumping, outdoor storage, etc.. There were court cases and fines, but the lucrative business practices continued for decades.  Occasionally, a business received unappreciated attention from the media… think - Izzo tire storage and fire, or the proposed power plant. The residents reacted, the town reacted, and the issue went away.  But town code remained and enforcement efforts remained unchanged. 

Residents living around the corridor learned to live with “status quo”. Not happy with what was happening in the area, but convinced that it was not going to get better, and hopeful that they could prevent things from getting worse, they formed civic associations. The associations stepped up the monitoring of the area and complaints were brought to officials privately and publicly. Their message: We are not going to disappear; We will work to protect our quality of life, there is a town code, and we expect you to enforce it.  

Businesses exist to make money. Successful business owners reinvent their business to maintain their competitiveness and to make more money.  As businesses in the corridor reinvented their business models and new practices were adopted, residents became incensed. Homeowners appealed to Town Board members to protect them from the practices that were destroying their quality of life. There were complaints about horrific odors, non-stop noise, 18-wheelers on residential roads,etc. . Town officials once again looked into the problem and discovered that there were no politically digestible solutions and therefore more work needed to be done to find the correct solution.

The town once again seems hamstrung. Some business owners have adopted a new business strategy publicly calling for planning and zoning changes. Residents are becoming more vigilant.

A major part of the problem can be traced back to RDD. Without businesses being held culpable for the illegal practices in the area, residents cannot feel confident that altering existing code will lead to compliance. Without Smithtown accepting responsibility for diligently enforcing its code, residents have no reason to belive that a new zoning category will lead to change and correct decades of violations.

It’s time for Smithtown’s electeds to address its Reponsibility Deficit Disorder. It’s time for Smithtown’s electeds to step up to the plate and find a solution to the Old Northport Rd. corridor. It’s time for Smithtown’s electeds to stop delegating their responsibility to appointed boards. It’s time for Smithtown to aggressively enforce its zoning code. It’s time to up the fines for commercial entities who violate Smithtown Town Code so it is no longer profitable to do so. And it is time to create a zone that includes reasonable outdoor storage, which does not allow environmental contamination, and protects residents from noise, odors and hazardous traffic in neighborhoods. 

Can Smithtown’s RDD be cured? Yes, but…

Pat