Neighbors press developer for bigger buffer and no balconies as Fortwood Estates wins approval

The Town of Brookhaven planning board approved the site plan for Fortwood Estates — a 45-unit, 6-building over-55 residential development in Port Jefferson Station — after residents pressed developers for stronger screening, removal of rear balconies and other changes meant to protect neighbor privacy.

The approval, reached in the planning portion of the Jan. 9 meeting, adds conditions requiring a 25-foot “natural and supplemented evergreen” buffer along the north property line (subject to the planning commissioner’s approval), privacy slots for the six-foot fence along the same boundary, and revised elevations removing balconies on Buildings 1 and 3 before building permits for those units are issued.

The project site, a 5.62-acre PRC-zoned parcel at the northeast corner of Terryville Road and Old Town Road, was rezoned to PRC years earlier after a 2008 comprehensive hamlet study recommended residential use. Developer Kelly Development and legal representative J. Timothy Shea presented the revised plans and said the design had been adjusted following Civic Association input and multiple agency reviews.

Why it matters: The plan touches residents directly behind the property, many of whom said they received late notice and were alarmed by two-story units and the potential for balconies overlooking their yards. Residents argued the existing vegetation along the property line was thin or dead in places and asked for year-round screening.

Planning director Don Hoehn and the project team told the board they had negotiated supplemental plantings — specifically Leland cypress in key stretches — and agreed to replace failing fence sections while adding privacy slats. Shea said the team would preserve healthy mature trees where feasible and add plantings where the existing natural buffer did not provide year‑round screening.

Public testimony at the hearing was extensive. Dozens of neighbors and civic leaders — including Joan Nickerson (history/hamlet study participant), Ira Castell (Port Jefferson Station–Terryville Civic Association president), Sherry Cavallero and others — described concerns ranging from tree clearing and drainage to perceived short notice and fears about increased traffic and noise. Supporters, including several residents and representatives of the Long Island Builders Institute, said the development would create housing options for local seniors and was consistent with prior town land-use decisions.

In response to neighbors’ health and safety concerns, the applicant agreed to: remove the rear balconies on the two north‑facing buildings; provide a revised, more robust landscaping plan with evergreen plantings along the north boundary; replace or repair the failing fence with a six‑foot privacy fence (chain‑link with privacy inserts was agreed as the town code‑compliant approach); and submit the revised landscape and elevation drawings for planning commissioner approval before building permits issue.

The board recorded the approval on Jan. 9 after the developer accepted the additional conditions. No numeric roll-call vote was recorded in the public transcript; the motion was made and “carried.”

Ending: The applicant told the board they would continue to work with Council Member Kornreich and planning staff on the final landscaping plan and on timing for site work so changes could be in place before major clearing and prior to the next construction season.