Should the Town Rezone to Create Sweet Hollow Park?

Half Hollow Hills residents flocked to Huntington Town Hall Tuesday night for a  on the site of Meyer's Farm in Melville.

Local civic groups and residents requested to change the zoning of an 18-acre plot on Deshon Drive from light industry to garden apartment, as well as a transfer of development rights from the farm to the Deshon Drive location.

The changes would allow developers to build a gated senior citizen housing complex of 261 units on 13 acres of the Deshon Drive property. The remaining five acres would be sold to a Hindu group to build a house of worship. The religious group orginally purchased the farmland in 2001, but agreed to hold off on its building plans when members learned that residents in the area hoped to create a park on the property. They agreed not to build on the plot as long as residents could help them find another suitable location for their house of worship.

The sale of the Deshon Drive property, currently owned by Newsday’s former parent, the Tribune Company, would provide that opportunity, as well as give the town the ability to buy Meyer's Farm from the Hindu group, and create "Sweet Hollow Park."

While the majority of residents Tuesday spoke in favor of the park's creation, several expressed their concern that the zoning change and transfer of development rights would set a precedent of higher density housing throughout the Township.

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