Business Owners Seek Heavy Industrial Zoning on Old Northport Road

In an attempt to bring themselves into compliance, several businesses along Old Northport Road in Kings Park that have operated outside of the zoning codes allowed for that area are asking the Town of Smithtown to change them so that they may come into proper compliance.

Carlson Associations and several smaller business owners have filed applications seeking to change the zoning of their properties along Old Northport Road and Townline Road from light industrial to heavy industrial use. Their case will be heard by Smithtown Planning Board at an 8 p.m. public hearing on Wednesday.

Carlson Associates and multiple business partners filed an application with the Town of Smithtown on Jan. 19 seeking to change their residential R-43 and light industrial zoning to heavy industrial.

The application states: "Applicants are not proposing any changes to the existing non-conforming uses at this time. Petition is being made to bring to bring the exiting non-conforming use into conformity." 

Frank DeRubeis, Town of Smithtown's director of planning, said the properties and businesses along Old Northport Road have been in violation of the town's zoning code for several years. 

Carlson Associations and its fellow applicants, per their Jan. 19 application, said the current use of the land is for basic offices, construction equipment and masonry supplies storage, landscaping supplies, nursery supplies and a solid waste management facility.

The solid waste management facility, with a permit from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, is allowed to accept:

• uncontaminated concrete, asphalt, pavement, brick, soil, wood, land clearing debris, yard waste 
• unadulterated wood, up to 25,000 yards per year used to make mulch
• animal manure, up to 15,000 cubic yards per year
• yard waste, up to 50,000 cubic yards per year to make mulch

Businesses operating off the properties include: Power Crush Inc., C. Weld, Outer Limits Excavation, Kings Park Ready Mix, Ted McCarthy Landscaping, Harris Precast and Michael Anthony's Landscaping. 

Many of these operations, while not legal under light industrial, would be permitted if the area was zoned heavy industrial. Other viable businesses under heavy industrial zoning - with permit or town board approval - include asphalt manufacturing, concrete product manufacturing, a foundry, licensed junkyards, sand and gravel mining, and trucking stations. 

Suffolk County Planning Commission has voted in favor of a change of zoning for Carlson Associates and the smaller businesses, by vote of 8-4, on April 4. Among those voting in favor was John Finn, representing the Town of Smithtown. 

It found that "the out parcel in the residential district may be a source of future conflict." The planning commission further advised the town to "study the issues of noise, light and safety prior to accepting conceptual site plans for zoning violation remedies." 

The applications along have stirred up . DeRubeis said the Town of Smithtown has received no plans for a power plant, and that a power plant would not require any change in zoning as public utility can be builty anywhere with town board approval. 

Kings Park and Commack residents have. DEC officials it has more than 30 complaints of odors in the area, and is investigating one of the businesses. 

One possible compromise to the years-long standoff, DeRubeis has offered, is his proposal to create a special exception permit that would allow these businesses a limited amount of heavy industrial use without rezoning the area heavy industrial. 

This proposal is before Smithtown Town Board, which has determined it would need to do an environmental impact review before voting on the proposal.