Draft Crab Meadow Report Released By Town
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The Crab Meadow Watershed incorporates a total of 5.6 square miles in Northport and Fort Salonga.
By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com
The Town of Huntington released Tuesday a draft study and plan that could affect future developments within the Crab Meadow Watershed, including a planned 98-unit community on the grounds of the Indian Hills Country Club.
The 154-page report, dubbed the Crab Meadow Watershed Hydrology Study and Stewardship Plan, is subject to public review through the end of April. It can be viewed online at Huntingtonny.gov/crab-meadow-watershed.
After the public review period the town board plans to host a public hearing on its consideration to adopt the plan.
The purpose of the plan is to highlight best management practices in both the 2.7-square-mile primary and 5.6-square-mile total watershed area bordered to the north by the Long Island Sound
All natural and man-made runoff that occurs within the boundaries of the Crab Meadow Watershed eventually end up in the Jerome A. Ambro Memorial Wetland, a 400-acre tidal marsh.
The watershed covers portions of Northport and Fort Salonga, from the Crab Meadow Golf Course in the north to the Northport VA facility in the south, and from the Indian Hills Country Club in the east to the Northport National Grid facility in the west.
The Crab Meadow Watershed Advisory Committee developed the plan under Chairman Ed Carr, who is also the town’s director of maritime services.
“The main purpose of the report was to offer best management practices for dealing with problem areas highlighted by the community in the report, primarily how to best manage the storm water runoff into the wetlands and pollution associated with road salts, fertilizer, nitrates, etc.” Carr said in an email Wednesday.
The report details topography and geology of the watershed area and identifies pollution sources, such as fertilizers and pesticides.
Huntington Supervisor Chad Lupinacci said in an email that the stewardship plan could help town officials “implement policies that are in the collective best interests of the environment.”
He added, “Policies on everything from golf course pesticides to the types of road salt that we use can have an effect on the wetlands.”
The report could also have an impact of further development within the watershed area, including on the planned 98-unit development at the Indian Hills Country Club.
“Residents expressed concerns about further development in the watershed,” the report states. “Sites of particular interest identified were the Veterans Administration Medical Center that may seek to release surplus property; the future of the National Grid site; and preserving open space on the Indian Hills Golf Course.”
The plan suggests that practices such as maintaining steep slopes, reserving natural buffers, retaining mature trees, reducing impervious surfaces and adhering to low impact landscape practices can help reduce the impacts of new construction on the watershed.
Fort Salonga resident and president of the Fort Salonga Association Frank Capaccio said the civic group supports environmental protections at all levels of government, and that the town planning board should incorporate the practices laid out in the new plan in future decisions.
“The environment is the only one we have, and we look to preserve open space and the 1-acre zoning in our specific hamlet,” Capaccio said.
The Huntington Planning Board was scheduled to make a determination regarding the environmental impact of the proposed Indian Hills subdivision at its meeting Wednesday, which was held after deadline.
