Riled over planned 24-hour bakery center

Neighbors of a vacant state-owned site in Central Islip are outraged at plans to relocate a 24-hour bakery products distribution facility there.

Guffaws and groans from more than 50 residents greeted Inter-County Bakers president Ted Heim Jr. and attorney Chris Modelewski at an Islip Town planning board meeting Thursday.

Heim and Modelewski told the board the operation would include 20 trucks departing between 4:30 and 6 a.m. weekdays and up to three truck deliveries of flour after midnight.

The company's $5.7-million auction bid in October won the site, a former state government food warehouse and distribution center at the east side of the intersection of Eastview and Courthouse drives.

A change of zone is needed for the property to pass into private ownership, Islip planning commissioner Dave Genaway said.

The nearly 13-acre site, originally part of the Central Islip Psychiatric Center, had been vacant for more than five years when Inter-County Bakers proposed moving there from its Lindenhurst location.

The site, at a T-intersection, is across from the Courthouse Commons condominium development, which began selling units about 2007, residents say.

Many of them turned out at the hearing to voice concerns about noise, traffic, air quality and hours of operation, and they weren't mollified by what they heard.

"Everyone told me I was crazy to buy in Central Islip," said Cathy Chapin, a resident at Saxton Court. "But the town has done a wonderful job of improving this area to draw people to live here. This proposal utterly destroys it."

Another resident, Christopher Cummings, said he bought a condo in the development in 2008, a purchase he would not have contemplated had he known the site would be used for the proposed purpose. "What about other services? They'll have Dumpsters that have to be emptied . . . how many times a night and what hours of night will they come?"

One civic group, the Central Islip Civic Council, had indicated it would support the application. But on Friday, executive director Nancy Manfredonia said her support now hinges on whether truck loading docks will be restricted to the facility's north side -- farthest from residents.

"I understand their concerns, though I think it's workable," she said. " . . . the school district could sure use every penny of tax revenue we can get at this point."

Central Islip school officials issued layoff notices to 154 teachers March 25.

Speaking after the meeting, Islip Planning Commissioner Dave Genaway said the residents raised valid points and the department would now give the project careful review.

The planning board will recommend whether to approve the site's rezoning. Final approval must come from the Town Board.

One immediate neighbor would welcome the approval: Touro Law has negotiated an agreement with Inter-County Bakers should the application succeed.

The school will be able to build closer to a joint boundary, enabling a proposal for student apartments to go ahead, said dean Larry Raful.