A Lot To Think About In Smithtown's Revamped Master Plan

SMITHTOWN GETS A FIRST LOOK AT REVAMPED MASTER PLAN

December 18, 2020

By Richard Murdocco

A summary of findings from the Town of Smithtown’s latest draft comprehensive plan were first offered to elected officials and the public during a December 15^th virtual town board session. 

The presentation given by Jeff Janota, a planning representative from Melville-based H2M architects+engineers, served as the first time both policymakers and residents heard of the newest plan’s recommendations for the future of housing, transportation, land use, recreation and more. 

According to local officials, the presentation was the first step of a lengthy formal approval process that includes an environmental review, the scheduling of additional public hearings, targeted community meetings, potential revisions, and an eventual vote of final adoption by the town.

The $490,000 effort first launched back in December 2018, when the Town of Smithtown contracted with H2M to craft the plan. Since then, the engineering firm conducted numerous resident surveys, meetings, and community outreach charettes in an effort to take the public’s temperature on issues such as the revitalization of Smithtown’s downtown areas and hamlet centers, as well as allowing additional residential development in key areas. 

This isn’t the first time Smithtown has tried to update its current master plan, which has been in use since 1961. 

A previous planning effort in 2015 was received coolly by the region’s business groups and real estate developers, who felt that the resulting developmental roadmap was uninspiring.  At the time, builders argued that the 2015 plan fell “woefully short of properly addressing downtown development and the area’s increasing exodus of young people.”

As a result, the massive draft went nowhere because the town board declined to formally adopt it. However, parts of the previous plan did find a second life in providing data for the 2020 effort’s land use analysis and community inventory.

Chief among the recommendations of this latest iteration include amending the town’s zoning regulations to bring them more aligned with current land usage, as well as allowing developers greater flexibility in changing permitted uses as appropriate. The plan also stresses the need for more transit-oriented development near area Long Island Rail Road stations, enhanced improvements to recreational facilities town-wide, as well as preserving the integrity of Smithtown’s existing single-family neighborhoods, which make up 51% of Smithtown’s overall land usage.

A key recommendation being made is that policymakers create a new zoning designation called a Multi-Family Zone that allows for low to mid-rise residential development in hamlets with underutilized lots, including areas located along West Jericho Turnpike in Commack or various vacant wooded parcels in Nesconset. 

“The Town of Smithtown should encourage, where appropriate, the construction of a diverse housing stock beyond the single-family home to meet the needs of all ages and abilities,” the document states. “Housing types could include townhome, apartment, assisted living, senior living, or traditional mixed-use,” it continues, adding that smaller-scale housing options should also be integrated into areas surrounding transit hubs and designated town centers.

In addition, the draft charted recent growth trends and key demographic metrics throughout Smithtown.

According to the document, traffic growth was relatively modest throughout the township from the period between 2015 to 2018, with the data showing that the number of total vehicle trips on town roads increased by 6%. In addition, the plan identified an 18% decline in overall school district enrollment town-wide, a figure averaged across the Smithtown, Kings Park, Hauppauge, and Commack school districts.

For the 75-acre Gyrodyne property, one of the last large tracts of developable land in western Suffolk County, the plan suggests that Smithtown residents are supportive of recent efforts to redevelop the former industrial parcel. “When asked how they’d like to see Gyrodyne redeveloped, comprehensive plan survey commenters believed the current proposed plans for a hotel, assisted living, and medical office was appropriate, and they additionally desired a sewage treatment plant, walking trails, green space, and in some instances, residential,” the draft writes. The plan goes on to recommend a buffer of parkland on the site, and suggests that elected officials keep a watchful eye on developmental happenings on the Brookhaven side of the property. 

At public hearings on Gyrodyne’s redevelopment earlier this year, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine argued against the latest projects being proposed on the Town of Smithtown portion of the Gyrodyne property due to their potential negative impacts to the environment and quality-of-life.

Concerning recreation, H2M said that the town should work to create new neighborhood parks in areas such as Half Hollow Road in Commack; Donald Drive and Hillside-Gramercy Gardens in Kings Park and at 3rd Street and Astor Avenue in St. James. The document found that surveyed local residents strongly favor additional investment being made in Smithtown’s recreational facilities, and were supportive of additional parks being built. In total, the plan reports that there were 1,159 survey responses from residents, who left over 2,000 comments.

According to Allyson Murray, Smithtown’s project manager for the comprehensive plan update, the next steps will be the scheduling of additional public workshops to solicit feedback and dedicated hearings as the plan’s environmental impact statements are being authored. “There is a considerable amount of public outreach that is to occur,” Murray said, who noted that the level of resident participation in the planning process reflects local civic pride. “We have a large and stable residential community of people who care about where they live.” 

Murray says that the public is welcome to comment on the draft plan anytime between now and February, when official hearings on the document will likely be scheduled. If the public is generally supportive of the draft recommendations, the town is aiming to formally adopt the 2020 comprehensive plan sometime in late spring or early summer next year.

Richard Murdocco is an award-winning columnist and adjunct professor in Stony Brook University’s public policy graduate program. He regularly writes and speaks about Long Island’s real estate development issues. You can email Murdocco at Rich@TheFoggiestIdea.org.