WOW - Everyone, you have spoken against a change in Huntington's Comprehensive Plan and the Mega-Mall! The turnout at the hearing on Wednesday night was fantastic. Standing room only. Congratulations to all for coming together with strong civic pride and for speaking from our hearts. We are a UNIFIED VOICE, from all parts of Huntington. We were above board, and it was obvious that those who testified are passionately concerned about protecting the vision of Huntington. (If you did not make it to the hearing, please see some links below that will help you get up to date. FYI, the petition was presented in hard copy to the board with all signatures and comments.) This issue is far from over – These are some important steps that will occur next: 1. The Planning Department will continue to accept testimony on an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan through Wednesday, June 29. If you were unable to attend the hearing, you can submit an official letter to Chair Paul Mandelik and Clerk Jo-Ann Raia using the following email and postal addresses: - Paul Mandelik, Chair, Planning Board,100 Main Street, Huntington, NY 11743. E-mail: planning@huntingtonny.gov - Jo-Ann Raia, Town Clerk, 100 Main Street (Room 102), Huntington, NY 11743. Email: jraia@huntingtonny.gov - If you need guidance on how to write the letter or what to write, please see the end of this message for a draft that you can edit to make your own. 2. In a couple of weeks, we will learn what the Planning Department recommends to the Town Board. Yay – to amend the Plan (and allow plans for mall to move forward) or Nay – to not amend the Plan (what we support). We’ll let you know what the decision is by posting it via this petition. 3. The Town Board will also have a hearing on the matter, just like the Planning Board did, in the near future. I cannot say exactly when, but we’ll let you know. We’ll need to repeat what we accomplished at this last hearing, so let’s not relent! Please keep sharing this petition with family & friends. Okay, so here are some video links to the hearing and related press: The full hearing can be viewed at http://huntingtonny.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=3&clip_id=1037. It begins around 29:00. Verizon FIOS1 News clip: http://www.fios1news.com/longisland/huntington-building-petition#.V24I2jkrIk8 News12 Long Island clip: http://longisland.news12.com/news/supporters-critics-debate-proposed-80m-elwood-mall-1.11954318 And here is an example of the type of testimony to the Planning Board you can write/send in if you did not speak at the hearing. Its best to write something based on your own personal experience. You don't have to be fancy. Just know the issue at hand for the Planning Board is the amendment that would allow rezoning, not the details of the mall itself. Still, this should give you a start: ---- WRITTEN TESTIMONY FOR PLANNING BOARD PUBLIC HEARING Comprehensive Plan Amendment for Syndicated Ventures LLC Zone Change 06/22/2016 Northeast corner of Jericho Turnpike (NYS Rte. 25) and Manor Road, Elwood 0400-209-02(003, 004.001, p/o 005.006) [YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS] [DATE] Chairman Mandelik and Members of the Planning Board Town of Huntington Town Hall 100 Main Street Huntington, New York 11743 planning@huntingtonny.gov Dear Chairman Mandelik and Members of the Planning Board: I have been a resident of the Town of Huntington for [#] years, together with my family of [#]. I write to object to the proposed amendment to the Town’s Comprehensive Plan that would permit the development and construction of the 56-acre, 486,000 square foot Villadom Mall by Syndicated Ventures on Jericho Turnpike. The Town’s Comprehensive Plan’s mission is to preserve the quality of life and community character of the Town of Huntington, preserve open space and environmental resources while managing growth and development to meet the aspirations of Huntington’s citizens. It is the product of years of community involvement and study, the input of hundreds of citizens, key civic groups, businesses, environmental groups, committees, multiple community forums, public meetings, and surveys. The Comprehensive Plan makes it very clear that the site for the Villadom Mall –an undeveloped low-density residential zone (R40) between Warner Road and Manor Road on Jericho Turnpike – must be maintained as a non-commercial area to provide “a significant break” in the commercial land use pattern in the area. The Plan explicitly states that this parcel of land should remain “low density” and is visually evident in its Generalized Land Use Map. An amendment to the Comprehensive Plan should not occur as there has been no positive change along Jericho Turnpike since the Comprehensive Plan was created that would warrant a zoning change. In fact there have only been negative changes in this specific area that have reduced the quality of life of residents. These include my own personal experiences: [INSERT REASON 1] [INSERT REASON 2] [Examples include increased traffic, unsafe driving conditions, closed storefronts where small businesses have previously resided.] If the Comprehensive Plan is amended, the quality of life of Huntington’s residents will be negatively affected by this development through the destruction of open space, inhibition of traffic flow, increase in traffic crashes, reduction of response times of emergency service providers, destruction of the environment’s flora and fauna, creation of air/noise/light pollution, contamination of our groundwater supply though run-off, and reduction property values for residents living near the site. These effects will be in direct conflict with the Plan’s Strategic Initiatives, which include “enhancing the efficiency of the road network to reduce traffic congestion”, “preserving open space”, “raising the bar on development quality”, and “improving the appearance and utility of commercial corridors”. There is no good reason to re-write and amend the Comprehensive Plan for Syndicated Ventures. To do so would undermine, ignore, and disregard all of the Plan’s findings, conclusions, and recommendations as well as the value of the Plan with respect to all future development in the Town of Huntington – all for the benefit of a single developer and at the expense of the quality of life of the Town’s residents. For these reasons, I respectfully object to the proposed amendment to the Comprehensive Plan. Sincerely, [YOUR SIGNATURE IF PAPER COPY] [NAME] cc: Town Supervisor (fpetrone@huntingtonny.gov) Councilman Cuthbertson (mcuthbertson@huntingtonny.gov) Councilwoman Berland (sberland@huntingtonny.gov) Councilman Cook (ecook@huntingtonny.gov) Councilwoman Edwards (tedwards@huntingtonny.gov) Town of Huntington, Town Clerk (jraia@huntingtonny.gov)