Brookhaven schedules multiple planning public hearings, planners flag warehouse vacancy concerns

The Town of Brookhaven scheduled public hearings for Feb. 13 on several planning matters, and planning staff summarized applications ranging from a kennel code amendment to commercial site plans while flagging large amounts of existing vacant warehouse space in the town.

Planning staff told the board that the single code amendment up for public hearing would add outdoor enclosures for kennels as an accessory use in a specified outlet zone. "We just have one code amendment. It's to add outdoor enclosures for kennels, as an accessory use, in the outlet zone," planning staff Don said, and staff set that item for the Feb. 13 hearing.

The board also agreed to set public hearings for multiple site-plan and land-division applications. Don said a previously discussed LAL Global site plan has submitted revised building elevations and is ready for public hearing; he described the new elevations as "nice and modern" and said the application includes typical site-plan elements such as grading, drainage, landscaping, new access and a new structure.

Also scheduled for public hearing was a 10-lot clustered land division along Evergreen and Woodland. Don said the application was re-noticed after a posting was removed and that the cluster map includes an engineered recharge basin and dedicated public roadway. He described the cluster approach as providing more open space and an "innovative way of dealing with our stormwater."

A separate land-division and site-plan proposal would divide an existing mixed parcel (which contains an Applebee's, a New York State park-and-ride and other developed parcels) so the park-and-ride and restaurant would become separate parcels and a new multi-tenant warehouse site would be created for future site-plan review.

Council members and staff discussed a longer-standing townwide concern: a large amount of empty warehouse space. One council member said the town already has "at least 800,000, if not a million square feet, constructed and completed warehouse that's currently vacant," and staff added that several proposals totaling roughly 2 million square feet were under consideration. "Many were built on spec ... and now they don't have any tenants," Don said, noting the town has had recent conversations with developers and is asking applicants to consider local market conditions.

Other planning items set for public hearing included a full site plan for a new sit-down restaurant, identified as "Clancy Street Food," at the corner of Route 111 and Route 495, and a pen-lot land division that had been re-noticed after the original property posting was removed. Don said the restaurant application includes drainage and access work and that the applicant provided elevations.

The planning staff also asked the board to set town-board public hearings (5:30 p.m.) on two zoning covenant amendments related to the Medford Sills property and on a rezoning and special permit request for an existing Dunkin' Donuts operator seeking to add a drive-through by incorporating two adjacent residential parcels into the commercial site.

On the Dunkin' proposal, staff noted the operator owns the nearby residences and said the plan would shift the site's entrance/exit farther from the congested corner; staff also acknowledged neighborhood concern about speeding and cut-through traffic but said the rezoning would not itself add a traffic signal. "This resolves a lot of issues now because it's going to move the whole entrance and exit up higher," Don said, but he added the proposal would not eliminate existing speeding on nearby streets.

The planning segment concluded with staff listing the items that will be heard at the Feb. 13 public hearings. After the planning report the board moved on to consider resolutions and then voted to go into executive session for matters including litigation, contracts, acquisition of parcels for open space and personnel.

The board's scheduling of multiple hearings means members of the public and affected neighbors will have opportunities at the Feb. 13 sessions to comment directly on the kennel code amendment, site plans and the land-division proposals.