Amityville extends apartment moratorium, seeks resident feedback on impact

Amityville kept its apartment moratorium alive and turned to residents for feedback on what the freeze has meant for the village. Officials said they will send out online surveys to gauge whether the pause has protected neighborhood character and public services or gone too far in limiting housing choices.

The move comes after the Village of Amityville approved a six-month moratorium on new applications for multifamily housing developments of three or more units at its Dec. 8, 2025 board meeting, a unanimous 5-0 vote. The ban covers apartments, condominiums and townhomes, and village leaders said they could extend it for another six months if needed.

Mayor Michael O’Neill and the board said the halt was meant to give the village time to study how recent development has affected services, infrastructure and village character, and to avoid oversaturating Amityville. The village said it planned to hire a consultant through a request for proposals to compile and analyze data. In his Dec. 4, 2025 mayor’s message, the village said the study would examine the number of existing residential units, the types of units and the impact on police, fire and highway services.

That review matters in a village of about 10,000 people where roughly 70 percent of housing is single-family detached, according to reporting that cited U.S. Census Bureau and Town of Babylon records. Amityville has added about 500 apartment units in recent years, a roughly 20 percent increase in total housing units, with major projects including Avalon Bay on Broadway and Village by the Bay on County Line Road.

Village officials and supporters of the freeze have pointed to strain on the volunteer-run Amityville Fire Department, which reported a significant rise in emergency calls after the new buildings opened. Joan Donnison, president of the Bay Village Civic Association, urged the village to look closely at how development affects resources and quality of life, while former zoning board member Tom Howard said Amityville had talked about a master plan for decades and needed time to decide what was best for the village.

The survey effort suggests trustees want a broader record before deciding whether to modify, continue or lift the moratorium. The response could shape how the Village of Amityville Planning Board and Zoning Board handle future apartment proposals, and whether the next round of housing policy opens the door wider for renters, seniors and young adults or keeps the brakes on multifamily construction. Amityville, incorporated on March 3, 1894, sits on the South Shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, where housing pressure continues to collide with local concerns about scale, traffic and public services.