Repair shop owner seeks permit to renovate property near Wyandanch Rising project

Babylon officials will hold a public hearing Wednesday on a special-exception use permit for a Wyandanch business located in the midst of the town’s revitalization efforts in the hamlet.

Glasford Hall is seeking the permit for 1513 Straight Path for the expansion of a non-conforming use. The 22,500-square-foot site contains two buildings, town spokesman Kevin Bonner said: a store that is not in operation with an apartment over it that is 2,042 square feet, and an auto repair shop that is 2,453 square feet.

Hall is seeking to turn the store into a deli and renovate the apartment, Bonner said. He wants to build a new fence around the entire site and create an access driveway on Jackson Street with a parking lot in the rear on property that Hall purchased behind the buildings. He will be selling vehicles from this area as well, Bonner said.

The property is a half-mile south of the heart of the Wyandanch Rising revitalization effort, which has so far been largely north of the Long Island Rail Road tracks on Straight Path. The $500 million public-private undertaking, which has produced two apartment buildings, retail shops and a plaza, has been in progress since 2002.

When a new form-based code for the area took effect in 2014 as part of the downtown redevelopment, Hall tried to legalize the buildings as a non-conforming use, Bonner said. A form-based code focuses on the design of an area, such as building heights and facades, rather than land use.

However, the Wyandanch Implementation Committee, which has been guiding the revitalization efforts, rejected the idea of an auto repair business there due to its proximity to the downtown, Bonner said.  

Hall began a renewed effort to legalize the buildings several years ago, and the committee expressed a desire to see the buildings remain but be upgraded, he said. Hall would need the permit to operate the auto repair shop and the deli, as both uses are not permitted under the code, Bonner said.

The hearing is at 3:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 200 E. Sunrise Hwy. in Lindenhurst.

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.