Huntington Town holds hearing on $85M Cornerstone Melville proposal

The Huntington Town Board held a public hearing Tuesday to consider approving an $85 million four-story, luxury residential community in Melville with 168 units and 20,000 square feet of mixed-use retail.

Developer Terwilliger & Bartone is seeking a special use permit to allow the development of property east of Maxess Road at 115 Baylis Rd.

The Cornerstone Melville development is the second project proposed under the Melville Town Center Overlay District. The community also would include a couple of two-story townhomes.

The units are expected to cost between $985,000 and $1.2 million, with the affordable units going for around $330,000.

There would be a preference category for veterans and first responders, with 20% of all units designated as workforce housing.

"These two projects bookend the downtown," developer Anthony Bartone told the board. "Creating the vibrancy that was envisioned with this downtown."

About 50 people signed up to address the board and waited almost three hours to speak following other public hearings.

Bruce Meyer, treasurer of the homeowner association of Stratford Park, which is opposite from the Cornerstone proposal, told the board that while they expect development in the area, they expect it to fit with the character of the neighborhood. He said what’s being proposed lacks open space and is too big.

"It’s a four-story building," Meyer said after the meeting. "Cut down the size, cut down the number of units and we’d be in favor of it."

"We’re happy to have reasonable development in the area, we would support that, we expect that," he added. We don’t expect it to be an empty piece of property."

The community is expected to have "resort-style amenities" including on-site staff, "a state-of-the-art fitness center, oversized club room, golf simulator, dog run, and courtyard featuring a heated pool and fireplaces," according to Cornerstone. High ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, balconies, stone countertops, stainless steel appliances and washer and dryers are features expected in the units.

Bartone said the combination of Cornerstone Melville and Melville Crossing, the first proposal under the overlay district approved in the spring, creates the critical mass needed in order for the town’s vision of revitalizing the area with a walkable downtown.

Centerport mother of six Suzi Pastorelli said she welcomed the project because her children and her 22 nieces and nephews want to live in the Town of Huntington but have no place to live.

"I want my kids to come back," Pastorelli said. "And have the opportunity to live around here, raise their kids with me and just be around each other."

The first application approved under the overlay district is Steel 75 Maxess LLC's proposal for 400 housing units in several buildings, to be built at Maxess Road and Corporate Center Drive.

The overly district was created to allow mixed-used development in certain light-industrial areas of Melville.

The town board must approve the projects, which are allowed to have buildings up to four stories tall that otherwise would not have been considered.

The legislation includes language that there will be a pause in accepting new applications once submissions reach 400 units.

At the August town board meeting when the public hearing was scheduled, some residents said they thought the pause meant town officials would wait until the 400 units were completed and occupied.

Town Supervisor Ed Smyth said the pause was meant to control the pace at which applications are accepted for review by the town.

By Deborah S. Morris

deborah.morris@newsday.comdsvmorris

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