The Huntington Town Board signaled this week that The Seasons at Dix Hills, a proposed 48-unit condominium complex along Deer Park Road, may be short-lived.

About 20 members of the House Beautiful Civic Association and the Four Towns Civic Association showed up at the Town Board meeting Tuesday night with petitions, signs, banners and demands for answers about the project, which would require a zone change and potentially add dozens of families to their community.

And they got a response.

"We're thinking of buying the property as open space," said Town Supervisor Frank Petrone.

It was an unexpected answer, according to the civic associations and the developer.

"We were not aware of that," said Steven Krieger, a principal with Engel Burman Group, the Garden City-based developer that sought the zoning change.

Sheila Saks, a former president of House Beautiful, said the response was a pleasant surprise. "I didn't know he was going to say the town was considering open space," Saks said. "We'd welcome it."

Petrone said the town's Open Space Committee will look into buying the parcel, now the site of a flower shop, along with other properties along Deer Park Road, with the intent to use the space for athletic parks.

Engel Burman Group filed an application May 9 seeking a change of zoning for the 5.8-acre plot at 482 Deer Park Rd., from one-acre residential to multifamily.

"We're in the business of pushing the ball down the hill, not up," Krieger said. "If the residents are not in favor of the project, then we would reconvene and decide whether or not we would move the application forward."

Anthony Natale, listed on the zoning change application as the property owner, could not be reached for comment.

Saks said the proposal would not correspond to the character of the single-family-home community and could overrun the community's infrastructure. She said one major concern was the potential for more such zoning changes on similar-sized properties if this proposal is approved.

"This community is very protective of its zoning," Saks said. "People have invested their heart and soul in their properties, and they will do everything possible to protect it."

Copyright 2008 Newsday, Inc.