In Babylon, licensing psychics considered

A proposal to license psychics and confine their businesses to industrial zones in Babylon Village drew questions from two women who say they have second-sight powers at Tuesday night’s trustees meeting.

Susan Trumble asked for more detail on the rules. Deby Stevens, of Hicksville, asked what had prompted the proposal.

Officials maintained there was no specific cause for the proposal, which includes similar rules for tattoo and piercing establishments.

Because psychic's businesses are not retail, village attorney Joel Sikowitz said, they don’t belong in Babylon’s business zones, and are a better fit for the industrial zones along Route 109 and John Street.

Those zones now house small factories, gas stations and a gym, among other businesses. But the zones also work as a catchment for businesses described as having “objectionable characteristics” in the village code. Peep shows, massage parlors and adult bookstores and movie theaters — the village has none now — would be confined there.

Stevens said in an interview the rules would “stigmatize” clairvoyants. “This is just who I am,” she said. “Things come to me ... They’re saying I’m not good enough to coexist with somebody else.”

Mayor Ralph Scordino said there was no such intent. “We just need some sort of regulations in our community to protect residents,” he said, comparing the proposal to one several years ago that added licensing requirements for landscapers.

“We weren’t against landscapers,” he said. “We just felt it was important there were certain rules and regulations they must follow.”

Trustees will continue to weigh the proposal, one of a number of additions to village code under consideration, Scordino said.

Trustees will meet Sept. 27 and could vote on the new regulations then.