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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 Avalons 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.
Theres a coalition of long-standing organizations that have
a commitment to the vitality of the Huntington community and these support
AvalonBay, Koubek said. Weve been here before AvalonBay;
we will be here after its built and certainly be very conscious
of the fact that board vote for this unprecedented economic revitalization
project.
To make AvalonBays 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 AvalonBays
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 developments
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; its 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 AvalonBays
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.
Ive got more orders than I can fill, he said.
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