Babylon Town Board shelves rental housing plan

The Babylon Town Board on July 11 withdrew three resolutions related to a proposal to build a 40-unit rental housing development in Copiague.

MR Property Builders of Amityville wants to build five two-floor buildings, each containing eight units, near 45th and Prospect streets. The developer is asking the town to change the zoning on the site from residential to multiresidential to allow the project to proceed.

Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer, explaining the board’s decision to withdraw the resolutions, said at the meeting that he had “concerns about whether or not the developer presented accurate information to the board.”

Schaffer declined to say what information from the developer caused his concern, but wrote in an email that it was “information I gathered during my due diligence review of the application and the concerns brought forward by neighboring residents.”

Richard Rauff, a project manager at MR Property Builders, declined to comment.

The board tabled a vote on the same resolutions in June after two people spoke in opposition to the project. They cited concerns about its impact on quality of life and other apprehensions.

The board is asking that the developer “go back to the drawing board to meet with the local residents to see if any compromises can come back,” Schaffer said at the meeting.