Smithtown Tree Service Grows Too Close for Resident's Comfort

Smithtown residents are begging town officials to keep a Jericho Turnpike business more than 10 feet away from their homes and property. 

Prisco Reality, owner of Reliable Tree Service at 970 Jericho Turnpike, went before Smithtown Board of Appeals Tuesday night for the second time seeking multiple variances to permit a trucking station and reduce the buffer to residential homes to 10 feet. 

"We believe the 10 feet is more than adequate give there's a town sump behind the property," said Vincent Trimarco, an attorney representing Prisco Reality. 

A triangular-shaped town sump located behind 970 Jericho Turnpike is roughly 88 feet across at its widest point, but narrows to distances of 20-30 feet across in the corners. 

Neighboring homeowners stand opposed to the plans, calling the property a "hot mess" and "eyesore" that generates noise and unpleasant odors.  

Smithtown resident Ann Marie Most, a Amsterdam Road homeowner since 2008, said Prisco Reality has already removed many trees and shrubs over the years that used to separate his business from the community. 

"Now in the late fall, winter and spring I have an unobstructed view of parked cars on the property and Jericho Turnpike," Most said. "The buffer provided our community with a quality of life we are entitled to as residents of Smithtown." 

Smithtown resident Linda Jablonsky asked the BZA to deny the variance and enforce the 50-foot buffer zone between businesses and residential homes mandated under town code. 

"The sump is not a replacement for a buffer," she said. "We want a full buffer, a brick retaining wall or something like that." 

Smithtown residents Brian Fleischmann and Mary McCaig accused Frank Prisco, owner of Reliable Tree Service, of illegally dumping and dying mulch on the property, creating odors.

Trimarco said "it's absolutely untrue" that Prisco Reality has dumped anything in the town's sump or area. 

David Flynn, Smithtown's assistant planning director, told the BZA that town board members asked it to attempt to maintain a 25-foot buffer between businesses and homes, 15 feet more than Prisco Reality is asking for.

Flynn presented recommended plans to Prisco Reality that featured a 20-foot buffer between the business and residents and limited vehicles on site related to the tree trimming service and 50 automobiles related to the auto dealership. 

Trimarco fought these recommendations calling them unnecessary and asking the BZA to approve the variances as it. Prisco said his tree service's fleet already has 12 vehicles. 

The public hearing was closed Wednesday, but the BZA did not vote on the variances.