Hearing to be held on zoning code for proposed industrial park in Wyandanch
The industrial park has been proposed for 100 acres of wooded land that runs from Little East Neck Road east to North 28th Street and from south of Circle Drive to Long Island Avenue in Wyandanch. Credit: Newsday / Steve Pfost
The Town of Babylon will hold a public hearing Monday night on a new zoning code that would allow a proposed 100-acre industrial park in Wyandanch to move forward.
Bristol Group, based in San Francisco, has applied to construct Suffolk Technology Park on 100 acres of wooded land owned by Pinelawn Memorial Park that runs from Little East Neck Road east to North 28th Street and from south of Circle Drive to Long Island Avenue.
The plan calls for nine one-story buildings with up to 40 companies and 384 truck bays. Although situated in Wyandanch, the site abuts a Wheatley Heights neighborhood and a historic Black and Indigenous cemetery owned by Pinelawn.
Babylon doesn't have a zoning code for industrial parks. The town's Planned Industrial Park District-1 code, which was adopted in 1980, is only for a North Amityville industrial park.
The purpose of creating the Planned Industrial Park District-2 is to “promote sustainable economic growth, stimulate job creation, foster innovation, and create a well-planned and coordinated technology, business and industrial park development,” according to the new code. The park “will drive economic development, significantly increase the local tax base” as well as “locate a significant number of jobs in the local Wyandanch area,” the code states.
While Bristol has not said what companies will be tenants, the code requires that use of the site be limited to “light industrial establishments in which the principal activity shall be the manufacture, intermediate processing or assembly of goods or similar operations.” Also allowed is warehousing, storage and food and drink preparation, as well as “professional and job skills training, vocational training, industrial, medical research and development, scientific research and development,” the code states.
Other uses defined in the code would be allowed with a special exception permit, such as a child care facility or a health club, commercial kitchens and printing facilities. The manufacture, disposal or storage of hazardous material is not allowed on site.
Bram Weber, the Melville attorney representing Bristol, emailed a statement to Newsday that noted how the company has been working with the Wyandanch school district and civic groups from both Wyandanch and Wheatley Heights for three years. He noted a more than $2 million package of givebacks to both communities that includes money earmarked for scholarships, renovations and beautification projects.
“The Suffolk Technology Park project presents a unique opportunity to turn untaxed vacant land, currently used for illegal trespassing and serving as an attractive nuisance to the community, into a uniquely designed quality job center and economic development resource which will benefit the entire surrounding community,” Weber wrote.
Town officials had previously said there would be no further public hearings related to the proposal before the town board, but because a new zoning code law is required for the industrial park, a separate hearing had to be held, town attorney Joe Wilson said.
“What was planned was to have the public hearings for those project-specific issues all together but the change in the code is separate from the project specific to Bristol, it’s an overall code change,” Wilson told Newsday. He said he does not anticipate the board voting on the code Monday night.
Wheatley Heights residents opposed to the project have repeatedly shown up to town board meetings to ask officials to reject the park. They cite water, light and sound pollution, increased traffic and an overall decrease in quality of life as prime concerns.
Elanna Osdoby, a Wheatley Heights resident who spoke at Wednesday’s town board meeting, told Newsday she is anxious about the code vote.
“If it’s rezoned, then that’s the end, that means that they are absolutely going ahead with this project” she said. “We’ve gone through all the reasons why this is an awful project, how it’s not environmentally sound, the traffic. We all keep repeating ourselves.”
The public hearing will take place at 5:30 p.m. Monday at Babylon Town Hall in Lindenhurst.
Suffolk Technology Park
- 100 acres
- 9 buildings
- 40 companies
- 384 truck bays
- 2,000 permanent jobs
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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