Plan To Demolish Tavern For Apartments Goes To Zoning Board

Plans submitted to the town call for the Valencia Tavern, on the corner of Wall Street and Creek Road in Huntington, to be replaced with a three-story, mixed-use building. Long Islander News photos/Connor Beach

By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com

Plans to demolish the iconic Valencia Tavern and replace it with a mixed-use building will require approval from the Huntington Zoning Board of Appeals.

As expected, the town’s planning department sent a letter of denial earlier this month to Huntington-based attorney James Margolin, who is representing the applicant.

Margolin said the next step in the approval process is to present an application to the town’s zoning board, which will consider whether to approve necessary variances for a 15-space parking deficiency, a depth extension and upper floors that exceed the footprint of the ground floor.

Margolin would not comment on the future timeline for the proposal, saying he was unsure when the application would be ready to file with the zoning board.

Site plans received by the planning department in November show that the developer wants to build a three-story, mixed-use building with 24 apartments across two parcels south of Mill Dam Park.

One of two parcels is 236 Wall St., where Valencia Tavern has stood for close to 100 years.

The second, larger parcel spans 0.38 acres and is owned by West Shore Holdings, according to records.

If plans move forward, three total buildings, including the tavern, would be demolished in favor of the proposed building.

The plan has faced opposition from Huntington residents who have argued that Valencia Tavern is an important part of the town’s history and social life.

Huntington-native Matt Suter, 36, helped start an online petition to save the tavern. As of deadline Wednesday, the petition garnered 348 signatures.

“There are dozens and dozens of comments from impassioned residents of Huntington who are very angry and frustrated with the potential for yet another high-density development that they do not want,” Suter said. “They do not want to see the heritage of Huntington erased.”

While he now lives in Brooklyn, Suter said he often returns to Huntington.

Bob Suter, Matt’s father, a longtime Huntington resident who currently lives in Halesite, similarly raised concerns about the planned development, including its potential impact on the environment.

“This development that they are proposing to build there is very close to wetlands, and we still have a serious runoff problem there,” Bob Suter said.

There has also been public support for the proposal.

Nicole Hoyt, 24, said at last week’s town board meeting that she currently works in Huntington and also wants to live in the town. However, she said, a lack of affordable housing options led her to move to Bay Shore and commute to work.