History: A Snapshot Chronology
September 2020 Two parcels of open vacant land – marked by severe steep slopes – between Bay Avenue and Vineyard Road (1) are collectively sold for $925,000 to developers . Project is titled “Vineyard Bay Estates.”
May 2021 The developers’ engineering firm submits a Subdivision Pre-application Form (2) to the Town of Huntington.
June 10, 2021 Christian Granelli, a Senior Town of Huntington Environmental Planner, reviews the Subdivision Pre-Application form and prepares an Environmental Review Division Memorandum detailing a number of environmental concerns.
October 2021 Developers demolish the existing unoccupied homes and a chicken coop on the property.
April 4, 2022 Part 1 of a Full Environmental Assessment Form completed by the developers’ engineering firm is submitted to the Town of Huntington. It fails to address many concerns raised in the Environmental Review Division Memorandum prepared by Senior Environmental Planner Mr. Granelli.
In 2023 Several plan iterations follow the submission of the Subdivision Pre-Application Form, with the Vineyard Bay Estates’ owners and attorney touting that the homes in the proposed subdivision conform with or exceed the requirements of existing Town zoning codes. They emphasize that 40+% of the proposed project would be devoted to maintaining open space. That open space is situated in the center of the parcels where the natural glacial ravine forms steeply sloped terrain, making development impossible. The developers' submissions do not address the concerns raised and documented by Mr. Granelli's June 10, 2021 Memorandum.
June 28, 2023 As required by Town Code, a letter announcing an August 2 hearing before the Town of Huntington Planning Board is mailed to a very limited subset (3) of the adjacent neighborhood homes and accompanied by an ad one week prior to the meeting in The Long Island Observer. Most Halesite and Huntington Bay residents remain unaware of the proposed development that will disrupt the major north-south arteries in their neighborhood and impact their daily lives.
August 2, 2023 Neighbors attend the Planning Board "Preliminary Public Hearing." The Planning Board Chairman limits them to 3-minute speeches, though the attorney for the subdivision applicant is permitted to speak at length on behalf of his clients. The neighbors outline objections and concerns. (After the meeting, one of the developers tells one neighbor that the developers are willing to sell the land for a fair price.)
October 11, 2023 Neighbors attend a Planning Board meeting follow-up that formally accepts the developers’ revised plans – but the neighbors are not allowed to speak. Instead, the Planning Board votes to accept the new plans, with Planning Board members opining that these new plans will address the neighbors’ concerns. Though demonstrably false, and over the objections of the neighbors present who were not allowed to speak on their own behalf and in their own interests, the developers move forward.
October 2023 Neighbors, now organized as the Nathan Hale Nature Preserve (NHNP) Committee, propose to the Environmental Open Space and Park Fund Committee (EOSPA) of the Town of Huntington (4) that the Town purchase the land for a nature preserve, gathering over 220+ signatures from Huntington neighbors opposed to the development. The North Shore Land Alliance also joins the effort. The EOSPA Committee agrees that the land is worthy of the Town’s consideration and directs Ed Gathman, attorney for the EOSPA Board, to begin discussions with the developers. Several weeks later, Ed Gathman reports that the developers answered: “The land is not for sale.”
November 2023-January 2024 Members of the NHNP Committee submit three FOIL requests to the Town for details on all documents relating to the Vineyard Bay Estates development. Members also secure attorneys (Perillo & Hill) and a non-affiliated Connecticut engineering firm (GEODesign) for expert counsel and information.
February 14, 2024 On the Town website, the February 21 agenda for the Planning Board meeting abruptly shows that Vineyard Bay Estates is on the docket in one week’s time for a preliminary approval of the revised site plans. A variety of documents are uploaded over the following days from February 14-16, including one dated 11-8-23 and one dated 10-3-23, neither of which were received in response to the NHNP Committee's second FOIL request dated 1-16-24. In addition, there is a first version of a Resolution document, predated February 21, 2024, posted – clearly meant to be approved by the Town of Huntington Planning Board.
February 20, 2024 2:15 PM A second version of the Resolution appears on the Town website, including an attached Full Environmental Assessment form – seemingly in favor of the development and claiming New York oversight as administered through the SEQRA process – is not needed.
February 20, 2024 Perillo & Hill, attorneys for NHNP Committee, file a letter with the Town Planning Board (5) requesting that the decision to conditionally approve the site plans for Vineyard Bay Estates be tabled and adjourned; that the public hearing be reopened so that the public may comment on the plans, as revised, and in response to any SEQRA determination this Board, as lead agency, may be issuing; and that, pursuant to Open Meetings, Law all documents relating to this application be made available on the Town’s website or otherwise provided to the undersigned.
Perillo & Hill also file a letter from the NHNP Committee to all members of the Town Board and the Planning Board of the Town of Huntington (6) protesting the flawed approval process and asking for a positive New York State declaration on SEQRA to bring in non-interested third parties to thoroughly investigate all environmental, water, wildlife, traffic, safety and neighborhood issues and suspend further actions on Vineyard Bay Estates until all concerns are discussed and resolved.
February 21, 2024 Perillo & Hill file a letter with the Planning Board (7) detailing all intertwined procedural and substantive issues that preclude any legal approval of the plan, even as a preliminary plat, again urging the Board to pause before blindly plowing ahead with conditional approval.
February 21, 2024 At its meeting, attended by approximately 30 citizens who were once again not allowed to speak, the Planning Board confirms its receipt of letters from Perillo & Hill but proceeds to conditionally approve preliminary plans for Vineyard Bay Estates. Following the meeting, all documents on the Town website pertaining to Vineyard Bay Estates suddenly become inaccessible.
February 23, 2024 Vineyard Bay Estates documents reappear on the Town website. A third version of the Resolution appears, rewritten since the version the Planning Board voted to approve two days before on February 21, and leaving out details on neighborhood opposition and any mention of the bird sanctuary signs. This third version is filed with the Town Clerk of Huntington on 2-26-24.
March 12, 2024 In person at Town Board meeting, NHNP Committee members publicly petition (9) the Huntington Town Board to halt Vineyard Bay Estates.
March 27, 2024 Nathan Hale Nature Preserve Inc files a Summons and Complaint/Petition (10) for Preliminary Injunctive Relief and a Judgment pursuant to an Article 78 of the CPLR in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against the Town of Huntington Planning Board, The Incorporated Village of Huntington Bay, and Vineyard Bay LLC.
May 30, 2024 Town Planning Board votes to rescind February 21st resolution conditionally approving Vineyard Bay Estates and negative SEQRA declaration and to restart the subdivision process in compliance with the law, ensuring public hearings and input.
June 21, 2024 On Town website, a new, slightly expanded resolution appears on 6/26 Planning Board meeting agenda, once again recommending a negative SEQRA declaration for Vineyard Bay Estates.
June 26, 2024 Nathan Hale Nature Preserve members present evidence to Planning Board of errors and misstatements on FEAF documents previously submitted by developers' vendors that were the basis for their intention to once again issue a negative declaration on SEQRA. Developers interrupt meeting to ask Planning Board to table the resolution vote and reschedule the Public Hearing slated for July 24th. Planning Board agrees.