Southold apartment project moves ahead
A proposal for the construction of a 24-foot by 220-foot, one-story building with six rental apartments — half earmarked as affordable — cleared another hurdle Tuesday night when the Town Board voted to approve the sewage treatment plan for the complex. The bid has been making its way through the Southold Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board since October 2023. The 2.78 sanitary flow credits required for the building were passed by the Town Board following a public hearing on Feb. 25.
Per the approval, wastewater will be disposed of on-site in two separate Hyrdoaction AN 800 Treatment Systems with two leaching pools each, according to a Dec. 2 Southold Planning Board State Environmental Quality Review notice. Three units will be clustered to each system.
Per Tuesday’s Town Board resolution, “2.25 of the sanitary flow credits will be provided at no cost to the applicant for the portion of the project that is to remain affordable, and 0.53 of the credits will be provided at a cost … of $6,360 for the portion … that will be market-rate.”
The 7,061-square-foot building is proposed for a 68,901-square-foot lot at 56025 Main Road, Southold, which lies within the Business Zoning District. It will not be visible from Main Road, per an Oct. 28 Local Waterfront Revitalization Program memorandum, since it will be erected behind an existing two-story mixed-use building with a barber shop and thrift shop on the first floor and apartments on the second floor. That building is located on Main Road across from Mullen Motors.
The apartments will have three bedrooms and two bathrooms, with a minimum size of 850 square feet each, per a March 11 planning department staff report.
“Safe and affordable housing is vital to a community’s stability and growth,” a town Planning Board SEQRA notice of determination stated, “increasing the amount of affordable housing to help sustain year-round residents of the town.”
Two residents spoke in favor of the development during Tuesday’s public hearing, which was attended by seven people.
Tom McCarthy owns an adjacent property and commended the apartment complex developer, Mark Schill, and his attorney, Patricia Moore, for their efforts to get the project off the ground.
“One thing I’d just like to add in addition to these sanitary flow credits is that we’d love to see some changes come in the zoning district in some permissible uses to create buildings like Mark is doing here,” Mr. McCarthy said. He asked that the board consider reworking the zoning code to allow for more multiple-family dwellings with units of less than 850 square feet.
“The code is very difficult to navigate based on conversion of existing buildings versus creating new structures,” Mr. McCarthy said. “And right now I think we’re handcuffed at a new structure to be deemed to be a multifamily building if it has to be 850 square feet or more [per unit] and it has to have at least three units. I think that may hamper development within the hamlet.”
The project received a negative declaration from the Southold Town Board on Dec. 3, 2024, meaning that it “will not have a significant effect on the environment” pursuant to SEQRA.
The town’s Architectural Review Committee recommended on Nov. 7 that the rear yard of the complex have a fence at least four feet high at the back of each unit.
Town Supervisor Al Krupski noted there will be upcoming updates to the town’s zoning code that will be open for public comment for a period of no less than three months. Mr. Krupski said he expects those draft changes will be available for review on the town website by the end of next week.
