No Ethics Violations in Lumber Yard Demolition

Smithtown Board of Ethics has found the town officials did not violate any ethics during the demolition of the former lumber yard on Main Street.

Times of Smithtown reports the town's own Board of Ethics recently ruled that it "did not find sufficient evidence to conclude that any town employee committed a violation of the Smithtown Code of Ethics" in the illegal demolition of the abestos-laced Nassau Suffolk Lumber and Supply Company in 2009.

Smithtown Supervisor Patrick Vecchio said, "The Board of Ethics' conclusion is self-evident. No ethical violations by any employee or official," according to the Times of Smithtown.

Smithtown Democratic Committee chairman Ed Maher had called on the town's board of ethics to launch an investigation in April 2012 to see if town officials may used a promised $40,000 tax break to pressure developers to demolish the former lumber yard.

His call for an investigation was based on a Suffolk Grand jury report released Feb. 7, 2012 had found that town officials unlawfully pressured a landowner into demolishing a property, even after a stoppage in demolition was issued.

According to the 42-page report, the Grand Jury found that the demolition at the lumber yard, listed as “Commercial Parcel A,” was done in “a dangerous and unacceptable manner” and done with "an utter disregard for the well-being of local citizens, in particular those residents living next to Commercial Parcel A."

The county's report also stated developer, North Fork Management and Maintenance, helmed by East Hampton resident Salvatore DiCarlo, received a handwritten, unsolicited tax map chart from a town official, listed in the report as “Town Employee C,” which showed a tax reduction of more than $40,000 if the land were vacant, according to the report.

Maher made a statement thanking the board of ethics for their full investigations, and accepting their findings, despite expressing surprise there were no code violations by town employees.

Read more on the Times of Smithtown about the Board of Ethics findings.