160 NYS Route 25 in Greenport, LI (Google Maps, Getty)
A project that would bring more than three dozen affordable housing units to the increasingly expensive North Fork is getting pushback from the local planning board.
Paul Pawlowski’s four-building proposal in Greenport was hit with a classification that requires further review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, the Suffolk Times reported. The developer has asked for more time to come up with a plan to mitigate the project’s impact.
The review figures to cost Pawlowski money and could result in changes to the project, slated for 4.7 acres by the blinking yellow light where Main Street meets the east-west route to Orient. About 4 acres of woods would be cleared to develop 2 acres.
The proposal calls for 12 offices, 40 affordable housing units and 120 parking spaces. The developer can build offices as-of-right, but needs Zoning Board of Appeals approval for the workforce housing, according to the publication.
Affordable housing is in short supply on the North Fork, leading to staffing shortages at local businesses and long commutes for construction workers and landscaping crews, among others. But proposals to create it often run into local opposition, as do other development plans including hotels, condominiums and large homes.
A past attempt to develop the site got as far as laying a foundation, which now sits abandoned.
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Residents’ concerns about the Greenport project were chronicled by the Southold Town planning department’s recent draft impact assessment. They included aesthetics, traffic, noise and even archaeology, as a small part of the site might have something significant underground, according to a state cultural database.
While the project is expected to have little impact on flooding or air quality, a disparity regarding water usage needs clearing up. The planning board could not understand why the Suffolk County Water Authority estimated the project would use 1,000 gallons per day but produce seven times as much sewage.
The review is the latest roadblock for a project that has faced resistance at each turn. The developer has been steadfast that there’s a need for the development — medical services, like cheap rentals, are extremely limited in the area — but said he is willing to work with the community.
“Overall, we feel that there is a desperate need for affordable housing, the medical space is important to the medical community and professions, and the project will be well done,” Pawlowski told Patch in July. “I am happy to meet with any neighbor to discuss the project in detail.”
— Holden Walter-Warner