The Village of Farmingdale board unanimously approved a zone change last week on the south side of Route 109, just west of Staples Street, that would make it possible to build workforce housing. This comes as the village attempts to meet the requirements of a 2014 settlement agreement to “make their best effort” to create 54 units of affordable housing.
The approval came after a fiery meeting that left village and nearby residents in attendance frustrated with the board’s decision, leading some to voice their outrage to the board after the vote was finalized. Village Mayor Ralph Ekstrand said after the meeting that he felt like many of those who supported the zone change were not at the meeting.
“We have a tremendous amount of residents and I’ve seen many more residents in a month than I saw [at the last meeting],” said Ekstrand. “The overwhelming majority of residents that I spoke to were in favor of workforce housing. If you go to any local government hearings, you get a preponderance of people that are against [a proposal] as opposed to the people who are for it.”
It was a crowded room for the Oct. 7 meeting as the village began a public comment period about the law that would officially change the zone of six lots, three of which have properties that have been abandoned, to an affordable housing zone.
One of the first concerns brought up by a resident was how Farmingdale Village is already crowded with housing as it is. Farmingdale resident Chuck Gosline also brought up the village’s 2011 Downtown Master Plan, which was created to revitalize the village, saying they had an opportunity in that to create affordable housing that might have met the terms of the 2014 settlement.
“Many of us here were part of the revitalization,” Gosline said at the meeting. “I know a number of people asked that we at least make 20 percent of the units in the plan affordable. When the plan was produced, it only reflected the 10 percent minimum mandated by the state. I have voiced my disappointment from that day on.”
Other residents who spoke at the meeting also had a problem with the specific spot that village wanted to zone, citing the problems the traffic causes on Route 109 already, and how accidents may increase with the addition of residents in the area.
“I live on Staples Street and everyone knows that it is a big cut through street, even more so now that there is a stoplight,” said one resident to the board. “The traffic is horrendous. The residents deserve a break.”
Ekstrand says that the apartments on Route 109 have little to no effect on the state highway, and that most traffic in the village is due to the 23 businesses that have filled vacant spots in recent years. He also said he has been reaching out to the state to help fix some of the issues that are happening with Route 109.
“[Route 109] has 20,000 cars go down it [daily],” said Ekstrand. “What’s another hundred? That development is not making you take an extra hour to cut through Farmingdale. It’s just not. Look at the development throughout the island. Look on Round Swamp Road. People getting home to those 600 units are cutting through Farmingdale.”
There were also multiple residents who spoke about how they feel the process is being rushed and the board should take more time to listen to experts on the matter.
“I think this room is filled with intelligent private citizens,” said former Deputy Mayor Patricia Christiansen to the board. “But there’s no one in this room who is a land-use expert. That’s what we need. Let’s go back over this master plan that we all approved. If we want to change it, lets bring the experts back to do the study. Let’s not just jump in.”
The village has said it continues to work with the Long Island Housing Partnership to figure out ways to get to a 54 affordable-unit minimum, although the village is only required to show proof that they tried to get these units in place, even if they can’t.
D&F Development Group acquired the rights to build on the six lots on Route 109. They will now need to formally put in a proposal for a workforce housing development.
For more information, visit www.farmingdalevillage.com.
