Truck inspection site planned in Commack

Addressing concerns of Commack business owners near the Long Island Expressway who said police were using their parking lots for truck inspections, the Town of Smithtown and Suffolk County have launched plans to build an inspection station on vacant land off Crooked Hill Road.

The town is brokering a deal for a 30,000-square-foot parcel to be donated to the county by PJ Venture, owner of the Cosentino Commerce Center, west of Sagtikos Parkway. The business park is occupied by major chain stores such as Walmart, Home Depot, Kohl's and Target.

The county Public Works Department will spend $400,000 to $500,000 to pave the property and build a fence, a spokesman for the Suffolk County Police Department said.

The plan requires approval of a minor zoning change by the Smithtown Town Board, which is awaiting a state environmental review of the proposal, said town planning director Frank DeRubeis. He said the town could OK the plan in a month.

The plan took shape after owners of stores at the Cosentino Commerce Center told town officials that police were steering trucks from the expressway and nearby roads into the stores' parking lots, DeRubeis said. Police were seen inspecting the trucks in lots near Walmart and Home Depot, he said.

"That was causing a lot of problems," DeRubeis said.

It was unclear why the stores objected to police using the lots.

A Walmart store manager was not available for comment Friday. A manager at Home Depot said he was not familiar with the issue. A PJ Venture official could not be reached for comment.

The inspection station will be run by the department's motor carrier unit, a police spokesman said, and will be available to other law enforcement agencies.