Babylon OKs rezoning of mobile home park

Despite a last-minute request for more time after Frontier Mobile Home Park residents hired a new attorney, Babylon Town Thursday approved a zoning change for the park so that it can be redeveloped.

The zoning change for the North Amityville site is subject to 20 conditions set by the town, including approval by the zoning board of appeals, set to reconvene on the matter Jan. 12. The change would take the site from business and residence zoning to multiple residence use.

R Squared Llc is looking to build 500 apartments on the site of the park, including some in four-story buildings. They have said the average rent for an "affordable" one-bedroom apartment could be about $1,400. The more than 500 residents in the park own their homes but pay the landowner, H. Lee Blumberg, $635 a month.

Residents have said they will be unable to afford the units and have few options. Many in the park are seniors, disabled or are young families just starting out, they said. The town has said the park will be condemned by the county for health and safety violations if it is not brought up to code or redeveloped. Residents were told in February that the site was targeted for redevelopment. R Squared initially offered several thousand dollars in relocation assistance and first choice on the new affordable housing units.

The 3-0 town board vote of approval came after attorney William Rapp, of Scarborough, asked for a week's delay of the vote so that he could prepare a legal response. Rapp said he was hired by the park's homeowners association Thursday afternoon.

Rapp said that his primary goal is to keep the park residents in their homes, but if that doesn't happen, he'll be looking for additional compensation from the developer. R Squared has offered each homeowner in the association $20,000.

The association's previous attorney, Samuel Kramer, of Manhattan, had announced last week that he would begin negotiations with the developer because more than 200 association members had agreed to the compensation. He said he was told he was fired 45 minutes before the meeting.

Linda Kavun, secretary for the association, said they decided to let Kramer go because they felt he wasn't representing their best interests. Kramer said his firm represented the association "to the best of our ability and for the sole and exclusive benefit of the association members."

Homeowners from the neighborhood that abuts the park spoke at the meeting.

"I'm worried about all of the traffic and the height of the buildings," said Michael Doughty, whose octogenarian grandmother lives on a street near the park. "It's too much. It doesn't belong there."

The meeting was Steve Bellone's last as town supervisor before he moves to the Suffolk County executive seat. He announced that he appointed Councilman Tony Martinez deputy supervisor. Martinez will be acting supervisor for the days between Bellone stepping down and incoming supervisor Rich Schaffer taking office on Tuesday.