Balance warehouse demand with LI's climate goals, housing needs

An effort by state lawmakers to establish air-quality standards for the massive warehouses sprouting up across the region and the state could impose some necessary and important regulations on a burgeoning industry.

But it may be too late to truly curtail the ever-growing warehouse boom. Long Island already has seen more than 11 million square feet of warehouse space proposed or built, much of which comes with round-the-clock activity, including large trucks regularly coming in and out. Many of those sprawling projects have already received government support, often through tax breaks.

The need and demand for such space remains enormous. The more Long Islanders are ordering from Amazon, Walmart, Target and other e-commerce entities, and expecting their deliveries within days, if not hours, the more such warehouses and last-mile delivery sites will be necessary. 

But state lawmakers rightly argue that the industry's damaging side effects could adversely impact the state's efforts to meet its climate goals, and more immediately, affect a variety of neighborhoods, especially communities of color, which are facing increasingly dangerous levels of pollution and other harmful hazards. 

The proposed Clean Deliveries Act would establish reporting, monitoring and data-gathering requirements for current warehouses, and a permitting process for new or modified facilities that would require traffic and noise reduction and mitigate the impact of such warehouses on nearby parks, schools, playgrounds, nursing homes and more. Also key: A plan to study the possibility of establishing low- or zero-emissions zones that could restrict deliveries or require trucks to meet specific standards.  

Such regulations could help. But leaders across the region also must start prioritizing housing and other mixed-use development over the seemingly easier idea of adding warehouse space. The former Cerro Wire property in Syosset is a prime example. The site would've and should've been ideal for housing or a mix of uses that could have provided a significant boost to the neighborhood. But after years of community opposition to good proposals, the parcel, adjacent to the Long Island Expressway, became a massive Amazon warehouse, buoyed by Nassau County Industrial Development Agency tax breaks.  

There's no question that the region will continue to need warehouse space to meet residents' ongoing e-commerce habits. But elected officials will have to find the right balance. They must find ways to meet the demand without overrunning the Island with warehouses that take up valuable land that could be used for more pressing interests. That can start with ending the practice of providing warehouses with tax breaks they neither qualify for nor need.

But there's a bigger task ahead. As warehouses continue to multiply, local officials must consider the potentially adverse impacts and the alternative economic development opportunities — including housing — Long Island still desperately needs. That's a far more important use of the land.