Brookhaven Board of Zoning Appeals handles dozens of variances and permits; major items include Page Development signage, Great Gardens digester and kennel, and

The Town of Brookhaven Board of Zoning Appeals met Jan. 29 in the Town Hall auditorium and considered more than 50 items, including petitions for signage and parking variances, land divisions into 50-foot lots, and special-permit requests for large industrial sites and animal-care facilities.

The board opened with procedural rules and then spent much of the afternoon and evening on a long agenda that mixed routine residential variance requests with larger commercial and environmental questions. Several noteworthy matters: Page Development sought parking and multiple signage variances for a 22,450-square-foot addition and a large freestanding sign at the Sunrise Highway shopping center in Patchogue; Great Gardens returned on height and parking relief tied to its anaerobic digester facility in Yaphank; New York Bully Crew applied for a kennel on a substandard lot within a hydrogeologic sensitivity overlay near Manorville; and a three-building industrial/warehouse proposal on the former Dowling College property in Shirley sought a special permit for overnight parking of registered vehicles and an extensive parking variance.

What happened - Page Development (Patchogue): The board heard a detailed presentation and a traffic/parking study that showed peak observed demand well below code-based requirements; planners and board members pressed the applicant on parking banked areas and prior signage compliance. At the hearing the board voted to close the hearing and hold the matter for decision (record: hearing closed and matter held open for later decision). The applicant submitted revised/complete exhibits and will return to the decision calendar.

- Great Gardens (Yaphank anaerobic digester): The board incorporated minutes from earlier grants and again reviewed requests for several accessory-structure heights and a modest parking relaxation tied to a redesigned operations building. The applicant said the equipment changes were driven by revised processing plans and submitted DEC and county approvals. The board closed the public hearing and held the matter for decision.

- New York Bully Crew (Manorville kennel): The applicant described a 4,800-square-foot kennel intended for pit-bull rescue, with two exercise yards, an on-site wastewater system to be reviewed by Suffolk County, and a proposed capacity of 35 dogs. The board closed the hearing and held the matter for decision, noting an upcoming town board code change that would affect outdoor kennel standards.

- Dowling College / Shirley industrial site: The board reviewed a pair of applications for a three-building industrial/warehouse campus on the former Dowling aviation property. The project seeks a special permit for overnight parking of registered vehicles and a large parking-area variance (staff noted a substantial relaxation from the town code). The applicants presented a parking/traffic analysis concluding the proposed parking supply (including shared parking with the adjacent town-owned recreational fields) would meet peak demand; the board recorded the applicant’s commitment to show the specific overnight-parking locations on the final site plan and to meet town board conditions attached to the prior change-of-zone approval. The board voted on the special-permit application and the parking-area request and moved the matters forward (see Votes at a glance).

Other business - The board handled many residential variance requests (decks, sheds, pools, porches), granting many on the consent/decision calendar and closing or holding others pending additional documentation or mitigation (landscaping plans, revised site plans or covenants). - A recurring procedural theme: members repeatedly pressed applicants to show precise mitigation (planting plans, masonry dumpster enclosures, or relocation of service elements) when proposals were near residential properties.

Why it matters The January calendar mixed everyday residential work with larger land-use decisions that shape where light industrial and distribution uses may site within the town. The Shirley industrial campus in particular demonstrates the continuing tension the board faces: balancing the town board’s economic-development approvals and associated conditions (dedicated parkland and buffers) against the board’s role in deciding specific zoning relief such as parking relaxations and the siting of overnight vehicle storage.

What’s next Several matters were held for decision or for revised materials; applicants were asked to show final landscaping, dumpster enclosures, exact overnight-parking locations on plans, and documentation of prior ownership/lot history where requested. The board’s decision calendar will contain those items when staff has prepared draft decisions or when applicants file requested updates.

Votes at a glance - Downtown/strip shopping signage and parking (Page Development, Case nos. 1–2): public hearing closed; matter held for decision. - Great Gardens LLC (anaerobic digester, Yaphank, Cases 6): public hearing closed; matter held for decision. - New York Bully Crew (kennel, Manorville, Case 3): public hearing closed; matter held for decision. - Shirley industrial campus (Dowling College site; special permit for overnight vehicle parking and associated parking-area variance, Cases 48/48A): Board recorded commitment to conditions (site plan revisions, specified overnight-parking locations, and the town-board covenants). Board voted to move the applications forward consistent with the town-board change-of-zone conditions. - Miscellaneous residential items: dozens of small-lot variances, decks, porches, and pool enclosures were granted or continued; see official minutes for the full roll call.

The board’s minutes and any formal decisions will be posted on the Town of Brookhaven website after staff compiles draft decisions (the board has up to 62 days to issue formal written decisions when hearings are closed), and applicants were advised to submit the revised plans and required exhibits identified during the hearing.