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 access, view corridors, parking, and the prior controversial iteration of the project that had failed to meet flood‑plain requirements. Lorraine Macio Pinto, a Patchogue resident, asked, "How does this benefit the neighborhood? Who's to gain from this?" She and other neighbors urged the applicant and the board to preserve as much public access and green space as possible.

Board and applicant responses

Mike Kelly, an owner representative, told the board the team is willing to work with nearby homeowners on additional buffering and shrubbery and noted the site received a "no further action" letter in its remediation record from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Kelly and other proponents said the revised plan is smaller than the former proposal, reduces marina exposure and improves drainage compared with the earlier submission.

Process and next steps

The board was presented with a planning board referral letter recommending approval of the special‑use permit. Counsel told the trustees the application must be referred to the Southern County Planning Commission under General Municipal Law 239‑m; the commission may or may not exercise jurisdiction. The trustees moved to close the public hearing and refer the application to the Southern County Planning Commission; the motion carried. If and when the board grants a special permit, the project will return for site plan review before the planning board and for any necessary zoning relief before the zoning board of appeals.

Why it matters

The site is a remediated brownfield along the Patchogue River and has been the subject of prior controversy. The proposal would change an industrial parcel to mixed residential use while adding a small public pocket park and engineered stormwater treatment; neighbors remain concerned about view impacts, parking and conversion of right‑of‑way to private use even if a license agreement allows public access.

Discussion points

- The project team asserts the drainage design meets village flood‑plain requirements and that they coordinated calculations with the village building inspector. - Traffic consultants argued the revised project will generate less traffic than the previously proposed scheme and that shared‑parking mitigates vehicle demand. - Board members and residents pressed for as much public waterfront access and green space as feasible; applicant committed to buffering and to working through the planning board to refine the public‑access elements.

Speakers

- Larry Davis, attorney for the applicant (representing Kelly Builders and Development Group LLC), first referenced at 361.73502 - Alex Badlamenti, architect, BLB Architects, first referenced at 437.15997 - Matt Alliard, site engineer for the applicant, first referenced at 401.595 - Wayne Butler, traffic consultant, R & M Engineering, first referenced at 695.60004 and 1520.025 - Mike Kelly, owner/applicant, first referenced at 2464.1902 - Lorraine Macio Pinto, resident (public commenter), first referenced at 3021.665

Authorities

- village_code_section: { "type":"ordinance","name":"Village code sections 435‑25(a) and 435‑82(h)","referenced_by":["notice of public hearing"] } - state_law: { "type":"statute","name":"New York State Village Law §7‑725(b)","referenced_by":["notice of public hearing"] } - gml_239m: { "type":"statute","name":"General Municipal Law §239‑m (county referral)","referenced_by":["hearing referral to Southern County Planning Commission"] } - dec_nfa: { "type":"other","name":"New York State DEC site remediation no further action letter","referenced_by":["applicant statement on environmental cleanup"] }

Actions

- { "kind":"referral","motion":"Close the public hearing and refer the special‑use permit application for 30 residential units at Mulford Street and West Avenue to the Southern County Planning Commission under GML 239‑m","mover":"not specified","second":"not specified","vote_record":[],"tally":{},"legal_threshold":{"met":true,"notes":"Referral required under GML 239‑m"},"outcome":"approved","notes":"Board voted to close the hearing and send referral; site will return for site plan and any required zoning relief." }

Discussion_decision

- discussion_points: ["Detailed drainage plan: site to store 2‑inch rainfall on site plus additional 16,000 gallons","Shared parking analysis showing complementary peak times for marina and residences","Requests for height variance (35 ft standard vs. proposed 45 ft) and parking relief (~15%)","Public benefits proposed: 1,700‑sq‑ft pocket park, bulkhead pedestrian access, sedimentation/treatment system"] - directions: ["Applicant to proceed with required county referral (GML 239‑m) and subsequent planning and zoning board hearings","Applicant to continue coordination with village building inspector on flood‑plain calculations and drainage design"] - decisions: ["Board closed the public hearing and referred the application to the Southern County Planning Commission"]

Clarifying_details

- {"category":"units","detail":"30 two‑bedroom units; 10 units per floor on three floors","value":30} - {"category":"height","detail":"Proposed building height 45 feet; applicable 35‑foot threshold in split zone","value":45,"units":"feet"} - {"category":"parking","detail":"Zoning calculation indicates 106 stalls required; plan provides 90 stalls and seeks ~15% relief","value":90} - {"category":"drainage","detail":"Design stores 2‑inch rainfall on site and provides an additional ~16,000 gallons of storage at end of Mulford Street","value":16000,"units":"gallons","approximate":true} - {"category":"pocket_park","detail":"Proposed public pocket park at Mulford and West Ave ~1,700 square feet","value":1700,"units":"sq ft","approximate":true} - {"category":"marina","detail":"Marina configuration noted as ~30 berths; marina demand modeled separately from residential demand","value":30}

Proper_names

- {"name":"Patchogue","type":"location"} - {"name":"Mulford Street","type":"location"} - {"name":"West Avenue","type":"location"} - {"name":"Patchogue River","type":"location"} - {"name":"Kelly Builders and Development Group LLC","type":"business"} - {"name":"BLB Architects","type":"business"} - {"name":"R & M Engineering","type":"business"} - {"name":"Institute of Transportation Engineers","type":"organization"} - {"name":"Southern County Planning Commission","type":"agency"} - {"name":"New York State Department of Environmental Conservation","type":"agency"}

Community_relevance

- geographies: ["Village of Patchogue","Mulford Street/West Avenue waterfront","Suffolk County"] - funding_sources: ["not specified"] - impact_groups: ["nearby residents of West Avenue","marina users","visitors seeking waterfront access"]

Meeting_context

- engagement_level: {"speakers_count":12,"duration_minutes":210,"items_count":1} - implementation_risk":"medium" - history: [{"date":"prior meetings","note":"Previous iteration of the project was controversial and failed to meet flood‑plain standards; current submission is a revised, smaller plan and team reports DEC no further action on remediation."}]

searchable_tags:["housing","multifamily","land use","stormwater","parking","marina","Patchogue","floodplain"],

provenance:{"transcript_segments":[{"block_id":"286.88","local_start":0,"local_end":220,"evidence_excerpt":"Notice of public hearing before the board of trustees...consider the application of Kelly Builders and Development Group LLCs for a special use permit for the construction of a 30 unit apartment complex with a clubhouse at the Southwest corner of Mulford Street and West Avenue.","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"3506.995","local_start":0,"local_end":80,"evidence_excerpt":"Make a motion that we close the application. Second. Southwark County.","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]},

salience:{"overall":0.75,"overall_justification":"Large waterfront redevelopment on a remediated brownfield, requests for variances, and potential public access changes; attracted technical review and public comment.","impact_scope":"local","impact_scope_justification":"Project affects village waterfront, adjacent neighborhoods and marina users.","attention_level":"high","attention_level_justification":"Subject of extended presentation, planning‑board referral and public comment; requires county referral.","novelty":0.4,"novelty_justification":"Revised iteration of a previously contested project; technical but not unprecedented.","timeliness_urgency":0.7,"timeliness_urgency_justification":"Pending county referral and subsequent zoning/planning hearings; near‑term decisions required.","legal_significance":0.5,"legal_significance_justification":"Requires special‑use permit, variances and GML 239‑m county referral; flood‑plain compliance is material.","budgetary_significance":0.2,"budgetary_significance_justification":"No village capital appropriation specified; public benefit elements limited in scale.","environmental_impact":0.6,"environmental_impact_justification":"Stormwater treatment and bulkhead interface matter for the Patchogue River; site is a remediated brownfield."},

engagement_forecast:{"newsworthiness":{"national":0.05,"regional":0.2,"local":0.9,"justification":"Direct local impact on waterfront land use and public access; limited regional interest."},"notify_recommendation":{"audience":"city","reason":"Project affects village waterfront, zoning variances and public access; local stakeholders and nearby residents should be notified.","justification":"High local impact and ongoing review process."},"notify_thresholds":{"local_min":0.5,"regional_min":0.7,"national_min":0.9},"predicted_interest":{"national":0.05,"regional":0.2,"local":0.85,"justification":"Local residents and planning stakeholders likely to follow."},"predicted_click_through":0.35,"predicted_click_through_justification":"Local audience with vested interest."},

graph_signals:{"jurisdictions":["US-NY-SUF"],"jurisdictions_justification":"Suffolk County / Village of Patchogue","ontology_topics":["land_use","stormwater","housing"],"ontology_topics_justification":"Project is land‑use change with housing and stormwater treatment components","entities":[{"id":"kelly-builders","name":"Kelly Builders and Development Group LLC","type":"business"},{"id":"blb-architects","name":"BLB Architects","type":"business"}],"entities_justification":"Named applicant and designer."}