As recently reported by John Callegari of Long Island Business News, the Town of Smithtown is considering the adoption of an overlay zoning district for the Hauppauge Industrial Park, which is home to some 1,300 companies.  The new zoning regulations would relax some of the existing Light Industrial zoning regulations that currently apply to buildings located in the industrial park, providing business owners with the opportunity to expand their facilities and operations.

Most notably, the proposed overlay district regulations would allow most buildings in the industrial park to increase their height from 35 feet to 50 feet, with buildings along Motor Parkway rising even higher.  The regulations would also permit outdoor storage, allow for increased signage and the use of shared parking lots.

The overlay district regulations will allow warehouse and manufacturing buildings to expand to the heights needed to accommodate taller racking and new equipment and machinery that they need to operate efficiently.  To encourage the creation of an office corridor that would compete with Melville’s Route 110 corridor, office buildings along Motor Parkway would be permitted to have a maximum height of 100 feet.

The new zoning regulations for the industrial park are being made possible by an $85 million dollar upgrade to the area’s sewer district that will include improvements to increase the capacity of the sewage treatment plant’s processing capacity from 300,000 gallons per day (gpd) to slightly more than 1 million gpd.  This increased capacity will be sufficient to allow all buildings in the industrial park to connect to the sewer district, even at the new building heights contemplated by the overlay regulations.  According to Suffolk County Department of Public Works Commissioner Gil Anderson, the additional sewage capacity may also stimulate economic development by allowing companies to utilize new processes that are not available to them due to existing restrictions on wastewater discharge.[1]

If adopted, these new zoning regulations have the potential to significantly increase the physical footprint of the industrial park, which is already one of the largest industrial parks in the nation.  However, for growing businesses that are in need of additional space, the new regulations will provide an alternative to relocation.  These businesses will now have the option of investing in the expansion of their existing facilities, which, in turn, is likely to create additional job opportunities.

According to the Town’s Planning Director, a draft of the overlay plan is complete and the Town Board may adopt the new regulations as early as this summer.

Farrell Fritz will continue to monitor the zoning amendments proposed for the Hauppauge Industrial Park, and our attorneys stand ready to assist local businesses that wish to take advantage of the expansion opportunities that will be created by the Town’s new zoning laws.

[1].  http://hauppauge.patch.com/articles/suffolk-obtains-land-for-industrial-park-sewage-expansion