A 30-foot mountain of wood chips and leaves on a ranch in Cold Spring Hills sends an onerous odor through the neighborhood.
And residents are bouncing their complaints back and forth between two town halls. That's because the ranch straddles the border between Huntington and Oyster Bay.
The neighbors live on the Huntington side. The smelly wood chip mix is in the Town of Oyster Bay.
"A lot of the residents impacted adversely live in Huntington," said Bruce Richard, Huntington's director of public safety. "There is very little Huntington can do."
Oyster Bay spokeswoman Phyllis Barry said a summons citing the wood-chip mountain was issued on Dec. 4 for "nonmaintenance of property" to Big Dougs Enterprises Llc, which is owned by Wayne and John Dougal. Also included in the summons is a citation related to whether landscapers can dump lawn clippings on the property.
The ranch, at the site for 54 years, consists of 18 acres in residential zoning along Jericho Turnpike east of Plainview Road. Just more than 2 acres of the ranch is in Oyster Bay.
The mound, which John Dougal says is made up of wood chips from his tree-service business, has never been this large, neighbors say.
The odors wafting from the site, presumably from decomposition, are "just awful," said Laura Shady, whose backyard is across Jericho Turnpike from the ranch. "I'm really concerned that it could be toxic."
"It is pretty smelly," Barry said. "But it's not toxic, from what our inspectors have seen."
The Dougals are due in court Monday to answer the Oyster Bay summons.
John Dougal said he believes his use of the property, including dumping wood chips from his tree-service business, is permitted.
"I'm not doing anything I'm not allowed to do," he said.
He said he is turning the wood chips into mulch, which he said will take 30 to 60 days.
"But you can't make everybody happy over there," he said, referring to his neighbors.
Wayne Dougal is also due to appear before the Huntington Zoning Board of Appeals next month on issues ranging from the presence of horses the ranch doesn't own - based on a lease of the property for riding lessons - to structures cited as illegal.
Five abused horses seized from a Central Islip stable in September were rehabilitated there.
In recent years, Huntington officials have taken other action against the ranch, including citing it for operating a restaurant without a permit. The restaurant is now closed.
Mixx it!
