Further study for E. Patchogue Walmart

The Brookhaven planning board has rescinded its acceptance of Wal-Mart's draft environmental impact statement for a proposed 98,000-square-foot store in East Patchogue and canceled a public planning hearing scheduled for Monday.

Instead, a public "scoping" hearing -- required for an environmental impact statement -- is set for June 23 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall in Farmingville.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s statement submitted March 25 said, in part, that with some improvements the infrastructure at Hospital Road and the north service road of Sunrise Highway could handle anticipated customer traffic for a Walmart at that intersection.

The property owner would help the town pay to renovate the Hospital Road bridge from a one-lane road to two lanes in each direction, the statement said.

Councilman Tim Mazzei, who represents East Patchogue, said Wal-Mart is wrong about Hospital Road's ability to handle increased traffic.

"It's clear to just about anybody that the infrastructure surrounding the bridge is not sufficient to support additional traffic," Mazzei said.

A Wal-Mart spokesman said the planning board had only administrative issues with the statement, not with its content.

"My understanding is there was some kind of procedural glitch," said spokesman Philip Serghini.

Mazzei said the town is hiring independent experts for traffic analysis.

"That's really within the expertise of the planning board," Serghini said. "Everywhere you go on Long Island, there's going to be traffic. But our traffic engineers will demonstrate through the planning board process how we will mitigate the concerns."