HUNTINGTON STATION
Housing Debate Enters Home Stretch
Both sides of Avalon debate ramp up advocacy in sprint to Sept. 21 town meeting
By Danny Schrafel/dschrafel@longislandernews.com

With 19 days to go until an expected decision from the Huntington Town Board regarding AvalonBay Communities’ proposed Huntington Station development, both pro and con voices are turning up the heat on the town board.

Huntington Township Housing Coalition President Richard Koubek said they have reached out to more than 40 Huntington groups to form a coalition to support Avalon Huntington Station.

As of Wednesday, 23 organizations – many of them long-time AvalonBay supporters like Friends of the Huntington Train Station, the Huntington Station Enrichment Center, the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce, Vision Long Island and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Huntington – have submitted endorsements of the 490-unit project on 26.6 acres at Park Avenue and East 5th Street. An Aug. 11 meeting drew 40 representatives from 35 different stakeholder groups. Koubek said the deadline to endorse is Sept. 13.

The goal of the coalition, Koubek said, is simple – convince the town board to approve Avalon’s application during its Sept. 21 meeting, which he said was a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity that would bring a $100-million investment to Huntington Station.

“There’s a coalition of long-standing organizations that have a commitment to the vitality of the Huntington community and these support AvalonBay,” Koubek said. “We’ve been here before AvalonBay; we will be here after it’s built and certainly be very conscious of the fact that board vote for this unprecedented economic revitalization project.”

To make AvalonBay’s proposal a reality, the town would first convert a half-mile radius around the Huntington train station to a transit-oriented district that would allow higher density housing because of proximity to major mass transit systems. Then, they would approve AvalonBay’s proposal, which calls for 18.5 units per acre. Both proposals are to be voted on Sept. 21.

The 122 units of workforce housing, which comprise 25 percent of the development’s units, would slow the “brain drain” that has plagued Long Island because of a lack of affordable living for young teachers, nurses and police officers, Koubek argued.

“This is much more than 122 units of housing; it’s a $100-million influx of money to build AvalonBay and tens of thousands of dollars spent on the streets of Huntington Station and Huntington for years to come by the residents,” Koubek argued.

Yet as pro-Avalon advocates organize more formally for the final push for a yes vote on Sept. 21, opponents of the AvalonBay development are hard at work to make their case for the board to shoot the development and the transit-oriented district down, arguing that current infrastructure cannot support the increased traffic and sewage and that the Huntington school district cannot absorb additional students. They also fear the proposed transit-oriented district would open the door to more Avalon-style developments that would overpopulate Huntington Station, set a precedent for other transportation hubs in Huntington and change the suburban character of the town.
Avalon opponents collected signatures for a petition outside Huntington High School during a referendum vote on Aug. 24. “Stop Avalon” lawn signs are also beginning to appear in the area near the proposed development site.

Huntington Station resident Matt Harris, a vocal opponent of AvalonBay’s proposal, said the seed money for the first signs came from a private loan, and the $4 interested homeowners contribute for a sign helps pay the loan back and buy more signs. Four hundred are up, and more are on the way, he said.
“I’ve got more orders than I can fill,” he said.