Patchogue board hears 30-unit apartment and marina plan for Mulford Street; public access and drainage central to debate

A revised application to build a three‑story, 30‑unit apartment building and associated marina improvements at the southwest corner of Mulford Street and West Avenue drew technical presentations and public comment during the Village of Patchogue board meeting on Feb. 10.

Larry Davis, attorney for the applicant, said the application combines six tax parcels and seeks a special‑use permit to allow residential use within a split zoning area that is partly industrial and partly residential. He introduced the project team and invited the architect and engineers to explain the design, drainage and traffic work.

Alex Badlamenti, architect with BLB Architects, described the building as a traditional, three‑story structure with clapboard siding, cedar‑style roofing and porches facing south. "We designed the building aesthetically and put the rendering up ... our goal was to limit the impact on the area of both height, orientation, and style," Badlamenti said. The design divides the massing into five sections; ten units per floor produce 30 total two‑bedroom units. The project proposes elevators and separate entry pods so there are no long internal corridors.

Engineer Matt Alliard (site engineer for the applicant) and Wayne Butler of R & M Engineering (traffic consultant) presented technical details. Alliard said the site will store the two‑inch rainfall requirement on site and provide an additional 16,000 gallons of temporary storage at the end of Mulford Street; stormwater will be routed to curb inlets, catch basins and subsurface retention areas and treated through a sedimentation tank before reaching the bulkhead. The design team told the board they met with village building inspector Peter Sarris during the engineering review and provided flood‑plain calculations as part of the submission.

Butler summarized trip‑generation and parking studies using standard Institute of Transportation Engineers references. His firm’s shared‑parking analysis concluded that residential peak demand occurs overnight while marina demand peaks during daytime hours, creating complementary demand patterns. The tables submitted show a weekday maximum demand of about 52 parked vehicles for the residences and 9 for the marina, and a Saturday maximum of about 53 and 11 respectively. The site plan provides 90 parking stalls; the applicant’s calculations show that number would leave multiple vacant spaces during daytime hours under the shared‑use scenario.

Project details and variances

- Units: 30 apartments (10 units per floor across three floors), two‑bedroom units. - Height: proposed 45 feet; the applicable residential standard is 35 feet; the applicant seeks a height variance. - Parking: zoning calculations show a requirement of 106 stalls; the plan provides 90 stalls and requests about 15% parking relief. - Drainage: onsite storage for the New York two‑inch rainfall standard plus an additional 16,000 gallons at the end of Mulford Street; sedimentation/treatment system proposed before discharge to the bulkhead. - Public benefits proposed: a roughly 1,700‑square‑foot pocket park at Mulford and West, public access along the bulkhead and a pedestrian walkway to the waterfront. - Marina clubhouse: described as storage and limited vending; applicant stated there is no plan for a bar or alcohol service and no public assembly space is proposed.

Public comment and concerns

Several residents and board members asked about waterfront…