Avalon Huntington Station
The Huntington Township Housing Coalition issued a press release today in support of Avalon Huntington Station which is a proposed development of 490 units of mixed residential housing, including both rental and home ownership with a 25% component of workforce, next generation and moderate priced housing in one, two and three bedroom homes. The development will be built on East 5th Street near Park Avenue. Here is the release:
The Huntington Township Housing Coalition (HTHC) has reached out to more than 40 Huntington organizations and has formed a “Coalition to Support Avalon Huntington Station”. The Coalition is seeking endorsements from Huntington organizations to mobilize its members for public meetings, letter writing campaigns, and other activities.
The goal of this newly formed Coalition is to urge the Huntington Town Board to vote (on September 21, 2010) in favor of AvalonBay as an unprecedented economic development opportunity for Huntington Station and the entire Town of Huntington.
“AvalonBay is proposing a unique opportunity that will bring more than a $100 million investment in development to Huntington’s most economically challenged community. “Most importantly to HTHC, Avalon Huntington Station will offer 122 units of affordable workforce housing that will help stem the flight of young professionals and senior citizens who can’t find affordable housing in Huntington,” stated Richard Koubek, president of the Huntington Township Housing Coalition. “The Coalition to Support Avalon Huntington Station was formed for one reason: to encourage the Town Board to vote for the economic revitalization of Huntington Station.”
The Huntington Township Housing Coalition has been advocating for affordable housing in the Town of Huntington since 1999.
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AvalonBay has two more dates set for the Public Information Sessions for residents to learn the facts on the proposed development Avalon Huntington Station.
These will be :
August 26th from 6-9 p.m. at St. Hugh of Lincoln, 21 East 9th Street, Huntington Station,John Fischer Room
And
September 13th from 6-9 p.m. at Avalon Court North, 100 Court North, Melville
as I have said before until NY passes laws like Arizona I do not want to see the Town Board down zone any properties for building. Our borders are not secure with conservative estimates of 300,000 a year, some estimates are over a million. Our government does nothing about it and where do they run to? Let me say, NOT Arizona.
We house them, we feed them, we educate them because no one is enforcing our laws.
Enforce our laws first then lets see how much over crowding we have in our schools and on our roads.
Do that first, then we can talk about building four story apartment houses in my back yard.
What does Avalon Bay have to do with Arizona???? Quite a stretch, don’t you think?
Remove the illegal aliens from Huntington Station and let us see what housing problems we are still faced with. Billions of tax dollars are spent on those that are not here legally and we are getting sick and tired of paying for it while a certain few prosper. What is happening in HS is exactly why Arizona had to pass immigration laws.
4 story apartment complexes in a town that is saturated with section 8 housing, a day labor site and family services that help illegals get what ever they need. Overcrowding in our schools and hospitals, and now a solution to the ‘lack of housing’ in HS, Avalon Bay! Smells real bad from my doorstep.
Not a stretch in the least.
Avalon Bay wont be built and ready for move in for a couple of years. That leaves plenty of time to clean up the crime and plan for the 100 students, and think and plan creatively of how to deal with the traffic. Again this project is 75% market rate so it wont be housing illegals. They wont be able to afford it nor get through the application process that will screen everyone who will live in Avalon Bay.
We have to fight to stop this from happening. If this passes it will be the end of this town as we know it. Who in their right mind would want to purchase a unit in this neighborhood and in this economy. This housing complex will become all section 8 and then what? We are in the fight of our lives with this. Please let TH know how you feel. Let them build this somewhere else. Stop dumping on Huntington Station!
It is impossible for Avalon to become all section 8. The BOE will tell you that there was a recent federal ruling that says that the Town of Huntington can not put all section 8 in one school district.
Avalon Bay is in no way dumping on HS, it is in fact the opposite–making a major investment into it which is what has been promised and needed since the 1960′s when Urban Renewal stripped HS of its resources. If MTA’s desired railyard ends up at that same piece of land because Avalon is turned away, then that would be a real dumping on HS!
This is such a NEGATIVE ATTITUDE oh ye of little faith! We need REVITALIZATION here not fear-mongering. We need new business investment opportunities for “economic development”. How else can the neighborhood start to recover? I don’t hear any other plan from the opposition. Absolutely nothing, nada, no ideas…Just a big NO.
You must be one of those who would rather see a railyard in our back yard.
Again with the “either or” argument. So lame. How about letting the owner build WHAT IS ACTUALLY ZONED FOR THE PROPERTY. That would be just dandy.
Well what about all of you who say Avalon cant be built because of the number of kids? So now all of a sudden you will accept 109 homes that will bring even more kids to the district and no financial offset by the developer????
This community MAY prevent the flight of senior citizens and young professionals, but it will encourage the flight of everyone else. We are taxpayers with two kids in District 3, and if Avalon Bay HS passes, we will be selling our home and moving to a nearby town before property values drop even further. I doubt we are alone.
Actually your property value is going to continue to drop if something bold isnt done to turn HS around. Avalon Bay is part of the solution to accomplish that.
Good point. This comment has not come up but is true. Let it be known that I was once one of those young professionals, and I have to tell you, there was NO WAY I was going to commute from the city to Huntington. Me and a my friends and family who were young professionals commuting to NYC would not travel any farther than bayside queens which is a MUCH CHEAPER and CLOSER commute than huntington. And another problem is that even if I had lived in Huntington then, I would have needed a car (another expense I wouldnt need living in queens or NYC). After getting married and having a family, it later made sense to buy a HOUSE and move back to Huntington…and ONLY for that reason.
This development makes no sense. This plan OR the one in East Northport. Just sounds like crooks trying to rip off the existing tax base using some…not all…of our town board members who should have left office long ago. -Joe
Who is going to buy your home?
THEY HAVEN’T CLEANED HS IN 30 YEARS, DO RELLY THINK ADDING AVALON WILL DO THIS.
WE ALL KNOW THIS WILL BE MAJOR MISTAKE.
HOW MUCH MORE CROWDED DO YOU WANT THE SCHOOL, IS THERE NOT ENOUGH TRAFFIC
GO BUILD IN DIX HILLS THEY THE SPACE
Yes I do believe that Avalon Bay will help to clean up HS and many of us KNOW that this is the right thing to do! The schools have a long term planning committee to deal with its need for more capacity which is a problem whether Avalon comes on board or not. Maybe you should tell families to stop having kids so that a number of the problems before us as a community would go away!
There ya go again, HS Resident. First you complain we are “losing” young adults, then you tell people not to have families. Make up your mind. Another reason not to listen to you.
Also – where do you get off trying to speak for the long term planning committee?
are people that stupid to think avalon will change things for the better
If you are serious about fighting this, please view the Say No To Avalon Bay facebook page. This is a battle worth fighting. We need participation (not just on Village Tattler). Write your councilmen, write the Board of Ed to get them to reverse their 6-1 vote. Get involved.
What 6-1 vote?
July 2009, the BOE of SD#3 voted in support of Avalon Bay. That was before AB “lowered” the density of AB from 530 to 490. What they failed to mention is the 490 units now actually house more bedrooms, including 105 3BR apartments. So their estimate of students coming in to an already overcrowded school district are TOO LOW.
That 6-1 vote.
The BOE has the responsibility to deal with enrollment in its district when it goes up or down. If they are unable to deal with the responsiblities of their job then vote them out! They dont set housing policy, the Town Board does. If the BOE and Town Board would start working together then we would be better off as a community. And we also need to set rules that BOE members and Town Board members cant run for each others spots because it only adds to the complexity of trying to get them to work together in the first place.
What a completely merit less argument, HS Resident. Blame the BOE – we dumped that argument a few months ago, but since you aren’t a parent, I guess you didn’t get the memo.
Taxpaying residents ABSOLUTELY have a say in the zoning in their neighborhood and taxing districts. Just because you and a bunch of out-of-area special interests groups have a different view – and must be panic stricken at the resident’s outcry – doesn’t mean beans.
Why SHOULD the taxpayers of HUFSD continue to shoulder the burden?
This is fantastic.A positive step towards affordable housing for those who need it.
There’s plenty of affordable housing in Huntington. Call Pius Real Estate. It might even be more affordable for you if you’re willing to bunk with 30 other guys in one house. I think they share mattresses. You might want to bring your own.
GO AWAY KIM (HS Resident)! Everyone is tired of hearing your mindless drivel about how Avalon Bay will save us. We don’t want it and we don’t need it!
I am sorry you feel that way but this decision we are talking about is regarding MY NEIGHBORHOOD so I feel very strongly about it. And I am not interested in any way shape or form of taking a chance that a 16 track railyard will end up in my backyard–that would be a complete dumping on HS. So let me guess, you are probably pro-railyard right?
If you want to improve HS then we need to take the approach Rudy Giuliani did. First clean up the area to the point businesses feel save to invest and give them incentives. But to add more low income housing to a depressed area is just not the answer.
It is not going to be low-income housing. It is 75% market rate.
HS Resident is a decoy on this board that actually works for AB. Please go away. In this case, I would rather have the railyard than more grown men riding bicycles and more immigrant kids that dont care to and will not learn english crowding our schools. That railyard never looked so good right now.
No I dont work for Avalon Bay.
There is absolutely no way that an apartment complex can save H.S. I’d like to see the existing complexes in the proposed Avalon Bay area cleaned up. They’re disgusting! Maybe that will “save” H.S.
To the Huntington Village Resident: I also live in the Village and WE are also at risk of the possibility of a complex being built on the old Toro grounds. The proposed downzoning will destroy this neighborhood too. Our Town refused to make this area an Historical District, so anything goes.
You need to understand how economic development works. If Avalon is built it is a signal that true revitalization is beginning in the area which will cause other property owners to invest and will attract other developers to the area for entertainment, restaurants, retail and the like. As it stands now, nobody is willing to make the investment until they see something bold happen. Avalon is a national company who has done its homework and has determined that there is a calculated risk here it is willing to take and has a track record of being right.
it is obvious you work for Avalon with you canned answers to every post. Please stop it.
Adding population to an already troubled town with a fragile infrastucture only amplifies the problems both short and long term. This is not Manhattan.
No I dont work for them.
You must work for them. I think we have good idea who you are. Thank you Hector, for standing tall with us.,. Their propaganda just doesn’t fly here.
If you don’t work for AB directly, do you work for anyone who has AB as a client? Hmmmmmm.
AFFORDALE!!!
IT IS NOT AFFORDABLE!!! HOW CAN IT BE BACKED BY A GROUP CLAIMING TO SUPPORT AFFORDABLE HOUSING!!!!
Affordable is a dangerous word. It means many things to many people. What is “affordable” for you? I am certain that not everyone will agree with your definition. Again Avalon is 75% market rate and 25% income restricted.
HS Resident, You wrote “Avalon is a national company who has done its homework and has determined that there is a calculated risk here it is willing to take and has a track record of being right.”
A calculated risk it is willing to take!
At our expense!
No planning in the world can make traffic less congested when you start adding apartment houses in a suburban town. My road is a cut through to avoid a couple of lights. I can’t get out of my driveway sometimes. Your brilliant engineers are going to solve these problems? I don’t think so.
Let’s keep it suburban.
There seems to be one HS resident commenting over and over that is pro this ridiculous development in our town. Just one, thank god. The rest of us know exactly what this is about–more money for Avalon Bay, dumping on HS yet again by the TOH, more traffic than we can possibly handle, too many children in our already crowded schools, etc. GO AWAY AVALON BAY! We will stand united against you.
I am tired of watching my Town go down hill. Down Zoning will only add to the problem. My beautiful neighborhood will now be suseptible to more building (Old Toaz, Touro) New history vs. old history. I go for the old stuff, where we have some space and the “city” stays where it is.
Mr. Weiland,
I hear you. I never see my husband, as he has to work so hard (like SO MANY OTHERS) to pay the taxes that we pay to support people who shouldn’t be here.
It’s time to incorporate Huntington Station into a village. The town board, Mayoka included, have shown nothing but contempt for the residents. A new village will take the power of zoning away from the town and put it in the hands of the residents.
Incorporate Huntington Station!
I can understand why people don’t want more traffic. That is already a problem. But to act like there is some wonderful suburban quality of life to preserve is not looking at the reality. Maybe 20 years ago kids could ride their bikes, now with huge SUVs and streets that were not designed for such large vehicles an adult, no less a child cannot even ride a bike safely in this suburban town. Walking is a challenge because people think that cars have priority and people complain about installing sidewalks because Huntington is supposed to be the country. Maybe people would be more fit if they were able to live in a community where you didn’t need to take a car everywhere. Open your eyes; there is alot of good things happening all over this country, making streets more humane for pedestrians and bicyclists. Even if something is a walkable distance, people drive too fast, don’t observe speed limits (30mph is higher than any other village community in this country) . We need traffic calming innovations. If residents use their streets more, there would be more overall support for the safety of those streets and quality of life. We don’t live in a bubble. If people feel safe in their huge vehicles and alienated from the experience as a pedestrian, then I don’t feel optimistic for the future. We are a lonely culture because we think the suburbs buy us our freedom and privacy which really just add up to alienation and obesity.
Not really sure what this has to do with Avalon Bay and the downzone, since the downzone is a lie to get more tax revenue and Avalon Bay are a bunch of ruthless profit whores who will keep a town in courts for years to get what they want, even if that town does not want it. They use affordable housing laws to get around local zoning and manipulate numbers to show only what they want us to see. For any reader who does not know how ruthless this company is, you owe it to your self to look them up. Then decide if you want this company planning a downzone for us – because that is exactly how this is going down. Our Town Hall has made no effort at all to plan a walkable environment that encourages a neighborhood feel. They are simply saying yes to the first developer, and will to the next as well. Avalon Bay will build a walk to the train, but they will not build walkable streets in the Station – we, the tax payer, could very well end up doing it for them. If it does not feel so safe, AvalonBay will simply put a gate around what they built – so much for that neighborhood feel. I know Kim, Toni and co. will jump in on this comment soon enough, they always do. But rest assured, MOST of the people who post in favor of Avalon Bay having something to gain for doing so – that is another part of Avalon’s stragy. So don’t take my word for it. Do a real Google search on Avalon Bay, get passed all the pretty pictures they want you to see and then you will find out what Avalon Bay is truly about.
The point about the potential gate is a good one. My previous comment was not meant to support Avalon. I was simply putting a thought out there to encourage thinking. I don’t trust the developers or the town officials
I also dont trust the No Avalon people who are taking their position for political gain as they are presently working on political campaigns so they have also hijacked the Avalon issue to try and get votes…
So HS Resident aka Kim D’Ambrosio – who would these mysterious people be?
@ anonymous -
I unlike you strongly believ in certain ideals and will use my name. You on the other hand are probably paid to post by either Avalon Bay or a contract employee of theirs. Your comments “cut and paste” comments are not taken even with a grain of salt. FYI to everyone that does not live in Huntington Station – Avalon group has paid workers walking door to door asking residents to sign petition in support of this new zoning that will allow apt rental buildings to be built in HS. They are paid $12.00 an hour and are being chased off peoples property. How stupid goes the elected officals that proposed this zoning change think we are? Shame on all of you.
I’m not saying I am in favor of Avalon. I am making an observation.
I believe in the avolon project. But why would he town once again place hard working individuals in a drug and gang infested area and do nothing to protect them. Nine years ago they promised the town that they would revitalize huntinhon station by dumping families
In the middle of the station and then revitalize the area. It has only gotten worse. I do not think any town council members live in the station. They have done nothing to protect the children that in Highview at Huntington. A similar project to Avalon but on a much smaller scale. The town are the land lords for this particular property and have bee paid close to a million dollars by the residents of this community. This community has asked them to please put a fence to protect
the children of this community and it has never been done. To protect the rich children they close a school and incur unimaginable costs. A fence, a simple
solution like a fence they just will not do it to protect the children that live in the
area all the time. So No I don’t believe that the town will do anything to clean up
this area. What security features will be put in place to protect this new development. It must be close to re election time….