THIS IS AN UPDATE ON THE Town’s recently approved Melville Overlay zone to permit the building of 1,500+ apartments on the East Side of Route 110

 As you may have read in Newsday (below), two Melville residents have filed an article 78 lawsuit against the Town for its failure to prepare a comprehensive environmental impact study before the rezoning plan was approved on December 10th, 2024. 

 The lawsuit seeks to annul the vote and require the Town to comply with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and prepare an upfront aggregate impact statement of the plan. Specifically, SEQRA requires the Town to analyze potential aggregate adverse impact upfront of changing the zoning law to build 1,500 apartments in Melville including: our groundwater, sewer system wastewater capacity, traffic, the HHH school district and Melville Fire Department. 

Supervisor Ed Smyth, Councilpersons Dave Bennardo, and Theresa Mari's position is that no upfront environmental impact study is required for the massive Melville rezone. Instead, the Smyth plan is to have the Apartment developers perform their own subsequent segmented SEQRA impact studies on a project-by-project basis. The Petitioners contend that segmentation is illegal under SEQRA. 

The length of time for a court to render a decision can vary. Typically, in these cases it can take a year or more. 

Interestingly, the Town is in court on three similar land use lawsuits with residents suing the Town over their SEQRA noncompliance: The Preserve at Indian Hills (Northport) 86-unit condo project, the former Jellyfish restaurant mixed use 9 apartment project (Centerport), and the Vineyard Bay Estates a proposed 8 house subdivision in Halesite. Additionally, at the last April Town Board meeting, neighbors hired two attorneys who argued the Town's proposal to rezone the "Rosewood" residential land off Woodbury Rd in CSH to commercial use, does not comply with SEQRA. 

For many residents the Town's lack of SEQRA compliance appears to be a systemic problem forcing residents to sue to simply have the Town comply with NYS law. 

Town board member Brooke Lupinacci voted against the resolution, she stated: 

“A zone change is not a plan. To be successful you must do the proper studies, put together a comprehensive, detailed plan that has blueprints, get feedback, make changes, and follow the legal mandated  process that leads, eventually, to a zone change once a plan is established.”

By Deborah S. Morris

 (NOTE: Ms. Lupinacci is running against Ed Smyth for the Town Supervisor’s seat in the Republican Primary on June 24th)

deborah.morris@newsday.comdsvmorris

Two Melville residents sue Huntington Town over development plan 

Two Melville residents have filed a lawsuit against the Town of Huntington to overturn the approval of the Melville Town Center Overlay District that could bring up to 1,500 apartments to the hamlet.

The complaint was filed in State Supreme Court earlier this month, alleging that a comprehensive environmental study of the property was not conducted before the plan was approved in December.

The Article 78 lawsuit, which is used to challenge state and local government decisions, was filed April 3, 2025.

On Dec. 10, 2024 the Huntington Town Board voted to create the Melville Town Center Overlay District, which will allow the creation of a walkable downtown in Melville south of the Long Island Expressway. The plan paves the way for up to 1,500 housing units in the area.

According to the lawsuit, the vote should be annulled because it was based on “numerous procedural defects” as it relates to the State Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQRA. That law requires voting bodies to consider the environmental impact of a project before moving forward with it.

“The Board's determination that ‘there will be no significant adverse environmental impacts’ in amending the Town's zoning code, Chapter 198 to create a 183-acre Melville Town Center Overlay District ... is contrary to law, arbitrary and capricious, unreasonable, illegal and unsupported by the evidence, and does not meet the requirements of SEQRA,” the lawsuit says.

The suit also says the project would have a negative impact on the Long Island aquifer, that there is no “meaningful plan” to mitigate a lack of sewer capacity and no "legitimate" traffic study.

The suit asks the court to stop the town from further advancing the application or development of the property and giving “reasonable costs and attorney’s fees and such other and further relief” to the Plaintiffs.

Huntington Town spokeswoman Christine Geed said in an email, “the Town of Huntington does not comment on existing or pending litigation.”

The Melville Town Center Overlay district was approved, 3-1-1, after five public hearings starting last spring. Town board member Sal Ferro abstained from the vote after being the subject of published reports that he had a business relationship with a disgraced Huntington developer, Newsday previously reported.

Bayport-based attorney Lawrence Kelly, who is representing the Plainiffs, said the town failed to follow SEQRA, setting in motion a number of issues. 

“A comprehensive study would have looked at the proposal and asked, ‘Is this the area for this type of intensive use?’” he said.

By Deborah S. Morris

deborah.morris@newsday.comdsvmorris

Deborah Morris is a native Long Islander and covers the town of Huntington.