Video: Town Hears Plans to Amend Density Flow Rights, Vote Scheduled

Proposed amendments to the town code involving the transfer of density flow rights to now involve municipal facilities was heard at the town board meeting Tuesday afternoon and will go to vote at the final June town board meeting.

Frank DeRubeis, director of the town’s Planning and Community Development department, said the transfer of density flow rights allows for property to be built on land where sewers are not present if other land requirements are met.

“In Suffolk County, in areas where there are not sewers, there are minimum lot area requirements if you have a septic system that generally tend to be larger than what the zone requirements are,” he said in a phone interview. “What the county allows for is you may transfer the flow rights from one parcel to another parcel and build on one parcel and not build on the other parcel … you can sterilize the location where you don’t want to build and transfer those flow rights to the one you do want to build on.”

The Suffolk County Sewer Agency handles the transfer of density flow rights, but the town has an agreement to operate the program on behalf of the county, according to DeRubeis.

“Through an inter-municipal agreement we decided that we would operate this program on behalf of the county,” he said. “Instead of having the sewer agency operate the decision the town is making the decisions but under the rules and regulations of the county.”

The town put together an ordinance to show the county how transfers would be handled by the town, which also must be approved by the county.

The ordinance, however, was missing one reason to transfer density flow rights.

“One of the things we did not put in there, which is if there was a municipal purpose,” DeRubeis said.

The amendments will go to vote at the next town board meeting held on June 23 at 7 p.m. at the Eugene A. Cannataro Smithtown Senior Citizen Center.