PETITION

The undersigned, being residents, taxpayers, and/or registered voters, hereby petition the Town Board of Southold Town to amend the “Town Code, Section 280-28, Bulk, area and parking regulations.,  A., Bulk, Area and Parking Schedule”, by striking from the “Minimum Requirements” in that section the phrase “MIFDU tenant-occupied dwelling units less than 850 square feet”, and, further striking from “MIFDU Tenant-Occupied”, the lot area per dwelling unit of “3,300”(square feet).

The undersigned being of the firm opinion that:  

·      Having a different density standard for Tenant-Occupied from Owner-Occupied is arbitrary and without justification.  The uses are the same.  Zoning does not differentiate between types of ownership, but between land uses.

·      The required minimum average land area per dwelling unit in Southold town, as a percentage of zoned residential categories, is closer to 80,000 square feet per dwelling.

·      The minimum land area required for Affordable Housing Owner-Occupied dwellings is 10,000 square feet, EIGHT times denser than the average single-family density, equal to 4.36 units per acre.  A little over 1:4 density ratio is a reasonable differentiation. 

·      The minimum land area for Affordable Housing Tenant-Occupied dwellings is currently 3,300 square feet, a jarring Twenty-Four times denser, equal to 13.2 units per acre. Abutting residential land uses should not have a density disparity of 1:24.    

·      Assuming an 80/20 ratio of two bedroom and one-bedroom units, and 1.5 people per bedroom, this results in 71 people for every 2 acres of land in Tenant-Occupied projects.

·      This people load means more light pollution, more sound pollution, and more conflicting traffic trips for any abutting single family uses. 

·      As project size increases the demographic characteristics of a project population comes closer to overall community characteristics in terms of social problems.

·      Previous Town entities have recommended 10,000 square feet of land area per Affordable Housing Unit and for density transfers, not 3,300 square feet.

·      There are very few single-family property owners that would not oppose a density of 13.2 units per acre abutting them.  It is not in character with Southold Town.  As density decreases, projects have a higher likelihood of acceptance by the residents.

We request that a public hearing be scheduled for this proposed  amendment as soon as possible.