CRUSH THIS

102 W. Main Street, Smithtown, is once again a source of contention for Smithtown’s Town Board members.  The owner of the property, VEA 181st Realty Corp, has razed the buildings on the property and was required, as part of their demolition plan, to remove the concrete from the premises. VEA is requesting a waiver from this requirement and seeking permission to grind-up concrete on the property. After the material is ground it will be converted into a 5-ft berm and stored on the property for later use. This proposal has drawn the ire of Town Supervisor Patrick Vecchio. 

At the July 14 Town Board work session Supervisor Vecchio blasted the waiver request. “Why would the Town accommodate him (Salvatore DiCarlo, Owner of VEA 181st Realty Corp) to allow him to grind up material on the property,” said Supervisor Vecchio. Mr. DiCarlo submitted his original site plan to the Town in 2007. In 2009 without a demolition site plan, buildings on the property were demolished even after the Town issued a stop-work-order. In 2014 the Town Board approved the demolition site plan for Mr. DiCarlo in which he was required and agreed to remove the concrete from the property. 

Since the demolition no site plans have been submitted to the Planning Department although Planning Director David Flynn acknowledged that many renditions have been examined and planners have spent many hours going over the renditions. No fees have been received for examining the renditions. Mr. Vecchio accused DiCarlo of playing the Town. Councilman Creighton disagreed with Vecchio’s assessment. “I believe this applicant has been trying to build for years and we have been, in many cases, an obstacle to his building. In some cases, without much justification.” said Councilman Creighton. 

“I, for one, will vote no on the waiver…It’s about time he puts the pedal to the metal,” said Supervisor Vecchio.  

102 W. Main Street (the former Nassau-Suffolk Lumber) is located across from Town Hall and multiple small businesses. It is in close proximity to residential areas and the New York Avenue School which hosts Smithtown SD’s administration, a day-care facility, and many of the Smithtown Kickers soccer games and practices.  

Home overlooking a pile of building debrisSome residents in the area are not happy and plan to attend meetings to let the Town Board members know how unhappy they are. Jen Bender has lived in her home on New York Ave. for thirteen years. In a conversation with Smithtown Matters she expressed her dissatisfaction with the waiver request. “I am very concerned, I have one son with asthma. The proposal makes me sick. My kids play in the back yard constantly. We lived through the demolition and now they want to grind the concrete. What about the health and well being of my family and the other kids in this area?” Ms. Bender is determined to make sure her voice is heard at a future Town Board meeting. 

Smithtown Matters reached out to former resident of Smithtown, Jason Toto. Mr. Toto is a trained geologist and educator with Sachem Central School District. Mr. Toto had this to say about the proposal, “As a trained geologist & educator of earth science for the last 12 years I would have great concern about the open air particulates that would be released due to the proposed plan of action to grind-up the concrete from the old Nassau Suffolk Lumberyard.  You must first and foremost understand the pulverized material that will be created can easily measure less than 0.0001cm in diameter.  Such sized particulates would create a significant respiratory concern for the local merchants, community members, children in their homes and for those using the adjacent sports fields.  Such particulates have been found when inhaled to cause throat and lung irritation, which could long term raise significant health concerns. Proper remediation of this site should include a closed system in which the rock could be crushed and the microscopic airborne particulates contained and filtered from freely entering the atmosphere. It would be preferable to remove the material in large sections and bring them to an off-site facially for processing.  Aside from a visual inspection of this material, it would behoove the citizens of Smithtown to have a sample of this material sent off to an accredited laboratory to ascertain exactly what the true chemical and physical composition of the material in question is prior to allowing more of this multi-decade old material to enter the environment. It can adversely affect the public’s health as well as yield potential environmental concerns as the material is whisked into the surrounding ecosystems, drainage system and the ventilation systems of surrounding homes and businesses as free radicals which are know to adversely affect health.  Furthermore, the use of water to keep the dust particles from becoming airborne is not without merit; however, it too yields a secondary problem as the copious amounts of water with dissolved and non-soluble rock product could enter the surrounding environment.” 

Planning Director Flynn took the position that the grinding of concrete on the property would reduce truck traffic.  “It is our opinion that if this mound was only five-feet high and vegetated it would be a good design.” Said Flynn. 

Flynn also said that Mr.DiCarlo would be going “above and beyond” normal Town Code ordinaces for grinding operations. The work would take place during the hours of 9am and 4pm on weekdays. Supervisor Vecchio brought up the issue of noise and questioned whether rock crushing was permitted in the area.

The waiver request was tabled until August.

Comments

[Sandy T]

"Déjà vu all over again"... The contents of the illegal demolition of the old Nassau Suffolk lumber yard have already been tested and found to have contained asbestos! This was back in 2009, and the details are available in the JANUARY 3, 2011 TERM I - GRAND JURY REPORT CPL 190.85(1)(C).

So why are we now considering letting DiCarlo crush what's left into even smaller particles right there in the middle of town? And what a reversal of positions of Grand Jury "Town Employee A" standing up for the rights and health concerns of local Smithtown residents and workers. Better late than never, I guess.