Babylon planning board may vote on plan for mobile home park

The Town of Babylon planning board is expected Monday night to vote on the application of a developer who wants to build apartments on the site of a North Amityville mobile home park.

The board briefly discussed the application of R Squared Real Estate Partners of Plainview at its meeting last week, but did not vote.

Board members said afterward that there are no remaining items of concern, although any covenants and restrictions must be worked out. Board members said the application is on the agenda of Monday's 7 p.m. meeting, and a vote is expected.

A separate request from the developer to lift a covenant prohibiting egress and ingress on Nathalie Avenue -- a roadway that borders the park, with mobile homes on one side and single-family homes on the other -- is also under consideration.

R Squared is seeking approval of the first phase of a five-phase development of Frontier Mobile Home Park. The developer wants to build 500 apartments with 42,131 square feet of retail space.

The 50-year-old park has more than 300 mobile homes and nearly 500 residents. Homeowners pay about $600 a month to park their homes, said owner and Amityville attorney H. Lee Blumberg.

Residents, who have said their mobile homes are too old to relocate, have been offered $20,000 over three years from R Squared once they vacate the park, which the town has said will be condemned for health and safety reasons if it is not brought up to code or redeveloped.

Planning board approval is one of the final steps before the project can move forward, with site work slated to begin as early as March once building permits have been issued.