Action Black proposes first Long Island site with Woodbury fitness classes

The Town of Oyster Bay is weighing approvals for a plan to open an Action Black fitness facility in Woodbury. 

The plan calls for a 15,177-square-foot site in the plaza at 8063 Jericho Tpke., which features a party store, a salon and two restaurants including Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza & Wings. The class-based Action Black would take the place of the former Joseph A. Bank storefront, which closed five years ago.

Bram Weber, an attorney for the plaza's owner, Kimco Realty, said during a town board hearing Tuesday the company would repave and restripe a parking lot at the back of the commercial strip that “is not in great shape.” The upgrades would create more parking spaces.

“What we are trying to do is bring a new use to this property,” Weber said during the hearing. “It’s been vacant for five years.”

Action Black has locations in New York City and plans to open in Miami. The brand originated in Medellín, Colombia, according to the company's website. The Woodbury facility would run up to three hourlong classes at a time with capacity for 20 people, Weber told the town board. Action Black offers classes in yoga, high-intensity trainings and immersive dance, according to the company's website.

For the proposal to advance, the Oyster Bay Town Board must approve a special use permit. Then, the zoning board needs to approve a parking variance, officials said. The town’s code requires 320 total parking spaces across the entire plaza. If the parking lot in the back is restriped, the plaza will have 184 total spots.

Weber said the town's code uses "an intense parking count" to determine the number of required spaces for commercial properties.  

Still, town officials raised questions over the availability of parking at the property.

Councilman Steve Labriola asked if the developer would consider encroaching on an existing buffer between the rear parking lot and the homes on the opposite side to create more spaces.

Balancing the needs of those residents while adding more parking is key, Labriola said, “so that our zoning board doesn’t have such a difficult decision to make.”

Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino said doing so would require the applicant to reduce the 50-foot buffer “with the end result of adding even more parking spots back there.” The developer should then rebuild the buffer with plantings and a berm, he said.

Councilman Lou Imbroto said the change in the number of spaces isn’t warranted, despite the town's code requirements. 

“In my experience, this has not been a very crowded shopping center,” Imbroto said. “This shopping center is dead.” Party City operated there until recently, when the company filed for bankruptcy.

Matthew Seckler, a traffic expert with the New Jersey firm Stonefield Engineering, said the facility is not expected to bring more than 87 people at a time.

Even if Action Black is at capacity, Seckler said the lot won’t reach full occupancy. "There is sufficient parking at this site,” Seckler said.

The town board kept the public record open on the application for 20 days.

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ