Huntington, NY · Estates at Elwood · Manor Road & Jericho Turnpike
A proposed subdivision on some of the steepest land in Huntington rests on a single calculation — submitted without showing the work.
The average slope of this property determines the minimum size every lot must be. At 19.96%, the proposed lots comply. At 20%, they don’t — not a single one of them.
The developer submitted 19.96% as the average slope of the hillside portions of this site. That figure appears on one sheet of the application. There is no explanation of how it was calculated. No measurements. No method. No supporting data. Just the number.
If the true average slope is 20% or above, every proposed lot must be at least one acre. Not one of the 44 proposed lots reaches one acre. The largest is 41,008 square feet — about 2,500 square feet short. The entire subdivision fails as designed.
That outcome hinges entirely on a number that has not been explained.
When a calculation this consequential is submitted without supporting documentation, there is no way to check whether it is correct. Here is what is not shown:
The application includes a steep slope analysis with color-coded bands. It states that 19.96% is the average slope. It does not connect those two things in any way that can be verified.
There is a standard method for measuring average slope — measuring the rise between contour lines at regular intervals across the entire hillside area. Was that method used? We’d just like to know.
We’re not asking for anything unusual — just the supporting calculations behind the number. Has anyone looked closely at how 19.96% was arrived at? We think that’s a fair and reasonable thing to ask.
If the correct average slope is 20% or above, the minimum lot size jumps to one full acre. Every proposed lot falls short. Not one qualifies. The subdivision cannot be approved as designed.
The Town of Huntington’s Steep Slopes Conservation Law exists for a reason. Nearly half this site — 44% — qualifies as hillside area under that law. About 19% of the total site carries slopes of 25% or steeper. These aren’t minor grades. They are the kind of slopes the law was written to protect.
No subdivision involving a Hillside Area can be approved until the Town’s steep slope provisions have been applied. That isn’t discretionary. It applies to every lot, every plan, every approval — including this one.
The steeper the average slope, the larger each lot must be — and the fewer homes can fit. The average slope figure is the foundation of the entire analysis. If it’s wrong, everything built on top of it is wrong.
The law doesn’t just control lot size. It also limits how large a home can be built if any part of the building footprint falls within a hillside area. Those limits apply lot by lot — and none of them have been analyzed in the application.
The Planning Department’s own guidance states that a Steep Slope Analysis must be submitted “so that an accurate yield can be determined.” An accurate yield requires an accurate slope figure — one that has been verified, not just stated.
The pre-application review is happening now. This is the moment to ask for the math to be shown — before the number becomes embedded in the record and every subsequent decision rests on it.
Show up to the Planning Board meeting. Ask the engineer to show the method and measurements behind 19.96%.
Town of Huntington Planning Board
100 Main Street
Huntington, NY 11743
Everyone who lives near this site deserves to know the key number hasn’t been explained. Forward this page. Print it out. Leave it with a neighbor. The more people who are paying attention, the better.