Power Settlement Politics - SuffolkJournal.com

Groups' Gripes About Spagnoli Settlement
by Jane Lee Bock

August 14, 2002

Immediately following the Town of Huntington's press conference announcing its settlement with KeySpan over the proposed Spagnoli Road power plant, SHARED (South Huntington Alliance for Responsible Energy Development) and its supporters held their own press conference on the subject.

Those supporters included representatives from the general community, Long Island Voters for Environmental Safety, Concerned Citizens of the Plainview/Old Bethpage Community, the Country Pointe at Melville housing association, and Andrew Raia, republican and conservative candidate for the 9th Assembly District, whose opposition for the seat is Town Councilman Mark Cuthbertson.

Raia blasted both his opponent and the town board calling it "the trading of the public's health and the potential loss of thousands of jobs from the Town of Huntington in exchange for money, an unconscionable act." Raia called for the town to issue a moratorium on energy plants, including the one proposed in Kings Park.

Legal proceedings about siting the plant on the Spagnoli Road parcel focus on the fact that Huntington has a specific zoning ordinance relative to power generating plants. KeySpan's Northport facilities are zoned under this ordinance, and one of the requirements is a larger parcel than the Spagnoli Road site. In addition, the stacks for the plant would rise some 195 feet into the flight path of Republic airport, where no building is allowed to be higher than 55 feet. The parcel is currently zoned for light industrial and residential uses, a code which specifically prohibits electrical generating facilities.

Since KeySpan has a generating plant on a properly zoned property that has been operating for more than 30 years, it is clear, say the new plant's opponents, that the town's existing code is not too restrictive.

According to Raia, "only two weeks ago Councilman Cuthbertson said no one has yet taken a position for or against the Spagnoli Road plant. I find it hard to believe that such an extensive deal could be arranged in only two weeks."

At numerous town board meetings, when the subject of the plant was raised by residents, council members repeatedly refused to vocalize any position on the matter. Several weeks ago they hired the law firm of Toomey, Latham and Shea for upwards of $100,000 to represent the town in the matter. Yet, at the press conference attorney Maureen Liccone stated that they had been "working on this for a year."

"This is not a done deal, but it is a sad deal," said Mark Schwartz of SHARED, who also questioned why the new plant proposals focused on Suffolk County. He produced a memo to Suffolk Legislator Jon Cooper from the Citizen's Advisory Council which is Long Island's energy watchdog group, which indicates that not only is there a trend towards increased power plant operations and emissions in Suffolk County, but there has been flat or declining power plant operations in Nassau County. According to the memo, the disparities are getting worse, not better.

"It's ironic that Councilman Cuthbertson just sponsored a bill to forbid smoking in public parks, yet proposes to have kids playing soccer under the biggest cigar I have ever seen," said Raia.

Al Berg, CEO of Marchon Eyewear, the third largest distributor of eyewear in the world said, "The town's refusal to defend their own zoning is a slap in the face to existing businesses that comply with Huntington's rigorous zoning laws. Many companies have spent millions of dollars to comply with those laws. Why does KeySpan get this special treatment?"

The public service commission is still gathering testimony on the matter, but the town has said they expect their deal to be approved.

However, although they made the announcement that they settled, there has been no official resolution authorizing the supervisor to execute the agreement. When SuffolkJournal.com asked the supervisor and the attorney in charge of the case for the authorizing resolution, they said there was none, "but if we need one we will make one."

In addition, when SuffolkJournal.com asked if this meant that the parcel would get an automatic zone change to the Generating Station District, it was told, no, because that zoning classification is "irrelevant" now - meaning that KeySpan will not have to comply with any of that code's regulations.

Although all the town council members stood alongside the supervisor when he made the settlement announcement, it's not over until they vote. The next regularly scheduled town board meeting is on September 10, 2002 at 2:00 p.m., unless the board calls a special meeting earlier.