Enough Overdevelopment in Huntington: Time for Common Sense Zoning

To the Editor:

As the former Chairman of the Huntington Town Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), I worked tirelessly to balance the interests of residents, landowners, and prospective applicants.

New York State Zoning Law requires that neighbors and other residents' interests are represented in hearing applicant requests. The burden of consideration by the applicant, under the law, covers at least five explicit considerations for area variances requests: an undesirable change, feasible alternatives, substantiality, adverse effects, and self-created hardship. As a board we emphasized careful review of potential undesirable changes to neighborhoods, always lending a sensitive ear to the neighbors.

You may have met me at your door during some of these applications, as I would often take the time to walk a neighborhood impacted and speak to residents instead of putting the burden on them to show up at a ZBA meeting.

Residents shouldn’t have to leave their house during a cold winter night, wait hours to speak at a public hearing to fight to defend their zoning and quality of life every time a development application comes up. That is a strict responsibility of the board; residents should not be on the defensive.

Our Town Board and the individuals they appoint have a duty and responsibility to represent us, not simply facilitate development.

The need for the Zoning Board and Planning Board’s independence in this Town is paramount if we are to restore trust in the Town’s zoning process.

Land use rules and laws protect our most precious investment, our homes. Good zoning and land use guidance is the most important responsibility of Town government, it is what knits our communities and neighborhoods together. Applications for exemptions from prevailing laws deserve careful review, but that review should never be at the disadvantage of neighbors and residents.

Now, more than ever, we need this balanced common sense approach.

John Posillico

Huntington

(The author was the Chairman of the Huntington Town Board of Zoning Appeals and is currently a Republican Candidate for Huntington Town Council.)