King Park Psychiatric Center Sale OFF

Kings Park Sale Off

by Nancy A. Bock

January 14, 2006

The sale of the remaining acreage of the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center to Arker Associates is being cancelled by the State. According to sources, Senator John Flanagan will make the announcement at the property this morning.

Unlike the two previous sales in which the purchasers declined to proceed, this time it is the State that is calling off the deal. While the future of the property is as yet unclear, it is being held for “recreational and parkland purposes” according to the source. The move will ease tensions and please many in the Kings Park community who feared the 1800 plus units of housing proposed by Arker in their application for brownfields funding.

Similarly, the school district, which feared an influx of new students and shortfall of tax revenue, should continue to receive the property tax payment the State currently makes on the land. Unlike a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) often paid in such cases, NYS pays a “tax” to the district, and according to tax experts since the State will continue to own the land the tax should remain.

For more than a decade the State has let the buildings and infastructure of the property fall into disrepair. Vandalism and decay have left many buildings unsafe and the town has done nothing to enforce regulations requiring maintenance. Some residents of the hamlet are concerned that the move would let the property languish for many more years and delay any economic progress for the community.

The development of the parcel has been a contentious issue in Smithtown for more than a decade and many have questioned the Town’s lackluster approach to dealing with the issue. While keeping the “Park in Kings Park” may be what appears to be taking place, should the property fall within the domain of the State’s Parks department it is not certain that it will remain undeveloped or residential. In fact, despite the “residential” zoning of the more than 200 acres that fall within the Nissequogue River State Park, the Parks Commissioner has sought industrial and commercial users to renovate, occupy and operate out of dozens of buildings within the park grounds. This, despite an absence of development of park and recreational uses on the grounds. The town has done nothing to challenge the out-of-zone uses the State is proposing in the park.

When the Nissequogue River State Park was first formed, Governor Pataki also declared that 3 out of 4 acres of the remaining excessed property would be forever preserved as open space. This limitation on development to a mere 92 acres of the core of the former hospital, combined with the estimated costs to clean up the site was an obstacle the first two prospective buyers could not overcome. The preservation promise was made a part of the bid and purchase documentation. However, now that the property is not being sold, it is unclear whether that 3 out of 4 acre preservation guarantee would hold.

While some are calling this a victory for the town, the sale has halted to prospect of an economic revitalization for Kings Park for the time being and keeps the future of the property unclear.

While the Highway Superintendent undertakes road maintenance in the town, he must however, submit an annual “road program” to the Town Board for approval and cannot undertake major construction without the Council’s approval. Furthermore, the town board must accept the grants’ funds, not the highway superintendent in order for the work to be done. As yet, he has not provided the detailed road program for 2004 in the form required by the board. Once he has selected the road work he will undertake with the funds budgeted for this year, and it is approved by the board, changes can be made to the road program, with the Town Council’s subsequent approval.

The section of Southern Boulevard included in this project runs from Middle County Road to Route 347. However, the project begins 150 from the intersection of Route 347 and 200 feet from Middle Country Road (Route 25). Despite the apparent bottleneck created by ending the project before the intersections, Lynch said that was done because “the State hasn’t decided what it was going to do with its roads.”