Fun center could get permit needed to open

The batting cages are in, the miniature golf course ready, and the arcade installed. But a delay in securing a permit for water capacity from the Suffolk County health department has kept the Station Sports Family Fun Center in Huntington Station off-line.

That may not be for much longer. The Huntington Town Board recently approved a resolution to transfer town wastewater credits to the facility's owner, Brad Rosen, to help him comply with health department code. The credits allow him to exceed the property's capacity. In exchange, the town will use a building on the property for an annex for public-safety officers.

The board unanimously approved the resolution Sept. 20.

"The town has a density rights bank of wastewater credits that can be made available to induce projects that offer a tangible public benefit to the community," said Joan Cergol, special assistant for economic development to Supervisor Frank Petrone. The town traded a 0.26 wastewater credit with Station Sports for the public-safety annex.

Cergol said one full wastewater credit is worth about $100,000 in the private market.

The sports and recreation facility -- at a former day-laborer hiring site -- was to open in the summer. Rosen could not get a permit because he was about 70 gallons over what was allowed on the property before the credit.

"It has nothing to do with the actual system," said Rosen, who is also the developer and operator of the indoor-outdoor facility that spans both sides of Depot Road. "It has to do with how much water goes into the ground per day."

With the town's help, he expects to get all county approvals and open on Nov. 15. A 1910-era building on the property will be used by the town's public safety department. Rosen had planned to raze the building, but after learning of its history as one of the town's early gas stations, he approached the town about its use.

Town safety officers had been working out of a room in the Huntington Housing Authority building on Lowndes Avenue, but because the housing authority is renovating the structure, town officials had to make other arrangements.

"There is value to the town maintaining a public safety annex in Huntington Station, particularly at the 53 Depot Rd. location that is well positioned in the community," Cergol said.