Wyandanch industrial park plan moves a step closer with Babylon's environmental OK
An aerial photo of the area being considered for the industrial park. The Bristol Group, a California-based company, has proposed building nine one-story buildings on 100 acres of wooded land owned by Pinelawn Memorial Park that the company would lease. Credit: Google
Babylon Town has adopted the environmental findings of a developer seeking to build a 100-acre industrial park in Wyandanch, setting the stage for the next steps in the approval process, even as residents continue to urge town officials to reject the development.
The board unanimously voted to adopt the findings compiled by San Francisco-based developer Bristol Group last week. The company has proposed building nine, one-story buildings on 100 acres of wooded land owned by Pinelawn Memorial Park that Bristol would lease.
In documents submitted to the town, the company stated there would be three to six tenants in each building, with a total of 40 companies in what would be known as "Suffolk Technology Park."
The parcel, which borders an 11-acre historic Black and Indigenous cemetery that the developer said would be excluded from the project, runs from Little East Neck Road east to North 28th Street and from south of Circle Drive to Long Island Avenue. It abuts Wheatley Heights residential communities.
The unanimous board vote Oct. 22 was the final step to complete the State Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQRA, process for the proposal. The town last fall held two public hearings for the environmental report at which dozens of residents showed up to denounce the project.
In its resolution adopting the findings, the town stated that the board had “weighed and balanced relevant environmental impacts with social, economic and other considerations.” The resolution stated that their action is “one that avoids or minimizes adverse environmental impacts to the maximum extent practicable . . .”
The adoption of the findings had been delayed after it was brought to the town’s attention that two types of endangered species of bats might be living on the development parcel. After an investigation, a state Department of Environmental Conservation report issued in August stated those bats were not found on the site.
A resident who showed up at last week’s meeting to voice her opposition to the park mentioned the bats.
“The bitter irony of it all is this project could have potentially been shut down if there had been evidence of the endangered long-eared bat living on the land,” Wheatley Heights resident Theresa Wallace told the board. “Imagine that the life of a bat could possibly be given more consideration than the health and safety of our children and our families.”
Wallace is part of a newly formed conservation group that has proposed making the site into a park similar to Belmont Lake State Park.
Among residents’ chief concerns are that the project would bring more traffic to already congested roads; that air, water and noise pollution would increase, and that it is still unknown what types of businesses would occupy the buildings.
An attorney for the developer previously told Newsday the park would be for "light industrial" uses, including assembly, distribution and warehousing, and would bring 1,500 to 2,500 jobs to the area. The attorney said the park wouldn’t house mass distribution or large-scale warehouses.
Resident Kevin Hession, citing the high volume of trucks that the park would bring, told the board last week that the development would “destroy” his peace of mind, along with residents’ air quality.
“This is a really bad thing, Rich, it really is,” he said, addressing Supervisor Rich Schaffer. “I don’t need to have a doctorate in chemistry to know that diesel fuel is poisonous to my health.”
The park, which would be the biggest development in the town in decades, would require the adoption of a new zoning code. Town spokesman Ryan Bonner said the town could vote on that zoning as soon as its next meeting on Nov. 6.
The Suffolk County Planning Commission would then need to weigh in on the code, Bonner said, and then the town board would have to approve the subdivision and rezoning of the site. The planning board would also have to hold a public hearing on the site plan and approve it, he said.
Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.
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