The Hauppauge Industrial Association (HIA) oversees a 1,400-acre industrial park that is home to more than 1,300 companies in Smithtown, N.Y. In July 2015, the Smithtown Town Board voted to establish the park as a new zoning district.

According to Terri Alessi-Miceli, president of the HIA, the new zoning rules will promote investment and expansion among the park’s business members.

The Hauppage Industrial Park is one of the largest in the nation, consisting of more than 60% of the companies in the HIA and employing more than 55,000 people in the construction, manufacturing and service industries.

New Zoning Rules

Alessi-Miceli says the new zoning rules promote growth in the following ways:

• Building heights, currently limited to 35 feet, can be increased to 50 feet, which creates room for new businesses to move in and opportunities for existing businesses to add more office space.
• Buildings along Vanderbilt Motor Parkway now have a height maximum of 62 feet.
• The new zoning regulations also allow for the construction of two-story parking garages and increased capacity for outdoor storage.

Possible Impacts on the Horizon

The Town of Smithtown, which has jurisdiction over roughly 70% of the park’s real estate, could see profound effects on its economy because of the new zoning district.

The HIA says the industrial park generates more than $19 million in annual tax revenue for Smithtown. New growth will bring greater tax revenue, as well as further reducing Smithtown’s unemployment rate, which has been falling for the past three years, after a 20-year high in July 2012.

For more information on the zoning changes, please contact the Long Island office of Milrose Consultants.