Amazon's Holbrook fulfillment complex proposal criticized at community meeting

Opponents of a 4.2-million-square-foot Amazon fulfillment complex proposed for Holbrook aired their concerns Monday about increased traffic and environmental harm if the online giant is allowed to move forward with the project.

More than 120 people gathered in a community room at the Holbrook Fire Department for the meeting, which was hosted by the Parkland Civic Association and included speeches from a pair of elected officials representing the area.

Addressing the crowd at the start, Stephanie Volpe, a member of the association, expressed concerns about how the community would be impacted by delivery trucks coming in and out of the facility, and the size of the proposed two-building development, which would be built on a 140-acre site near the intersection of Sunrise Highway and Beacon Drive.

"Look at the scope of how large this is compared to other places in the neighborhood," said Volpe, pointing to renderings of the facility, including some previously published in Newsday.

Civic board members told those in attendance the Islip Town Planning Board must approve a zone change before Amazon can proceed, explaining the process and encouraging residents to show up at  planning board meetings to share their views. 

Amazon submitted a zone change application in July to Islip. Included in the application were plans to convert the site's current zoning from Islip Pines mixed-use planned development district to industrial. The area was previously zoned industrial, but the town changed it in 2014 to prepare for a developer's residential and commercial project that fell through, Newsday previously reported.

If approved, the facility would be 21 times larger than Amazon's current largest facility on Long Island — a 200,000-square-foot delivery station in Syosset.

Amazon has nine facilities on Long Island, which total more than 1 million square feet. That includes six delivery stations that are last-mile distribution centers, one of which is on Broadway Avenue in Holbrook — near the proposed site of the new complex. Roughly 300 tractor trailers are projected to travel to and from the facility every day, Amazon officials previously said.

Scannell Properties, an Indianapolis-based developer, owns the property.

Some attendees questioned the proposal’s appropriateness in the neighborhood and expressed concerns it would generate light pollution, water pollution, traffic congestion and other environmental impacts.

When it was mentioned Amazon would seek tax abatements for the project, a murmur of disapproval was heard in the room.

In a statement late Monday, Amazon spokesperson Austin Stowe said: "Amazon is committed to being a good neighbor in Holbrook, and we've already begun meeting with community organizations like the MacArthur Business Alliance and Holbrook Chamber of Commerce. We look forward to sharing more about this project with residents and other groups across the Town of Islip and Suffolk County in September — including the Parkland Civic Association."

Vinnie Reynolds, of Holbrook, warned others at the meeting traffic would be just one of many negative consequences.

"If you think it’s bad now," Reynolds said, "wait until the cargo planes start coming."

Assemb. Doug Smith, a Republican representing Holbrook, told residents "Please do call your representatives. Because I have to tell you, if I’m being honest, I’ve gotten fewer than five calls in my office on this. I live here. I know where you all stand."

Suffolk Legis. Anthony A. Piccirillo, also a Republican from Holbrook, told residents the project "does not make sense economically, environmentally and we want to see the place that we grew up continue to be that way."