Resident sues Babylon over industrial park plan
Love Foy, left, and Phyllis Y. Stewart, a Wheatley Heights resident who backs the lawsuit. Foy said she is concerned about the proximity of the entrance of the planned industrial park to the entrance of popular Kevin Ver Pault Park. Credit: Rick Kopstein
A Wheatley Heights resident has filed a lawsuit against the Town of Babylon over a proposed 100-acre industrial park in neighboring Wyandanch.
The Article 78 suit, which is a legal action used to challenge state and local government decisions, was filed by Love Foy last month. The town on Feb. 26 asked State Supreme Court Judge Kathy Bergmann to dismiss the suit.
The town is considering the application of San Francisco-based Bristol Group to develop a more than 100-acre parcel owned by Pinelawn Cemetery. The proposed industrial park would be the largest development in Babylon Town in decades and require approval of a new zoning district proposed by Bristol.
The park would have nine one-story buildings on wooded land leased from Pinelawn Cemetery that runs from Little East Neck Road to North 28th Street and from south of Circle Drive to Long Island Avenue.
Public hearings on the proposal have brought out neighbors in opposition.
Foy, 53, filed the lawsuit against Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer and the other four members of the town board. The focus of her suit is the State Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQRA, process for the project, and the town board’s acceptance of Bristol’s Final Environmental Impact Statement, or FEIS, for the project at its Jan. 15 meeting.
Foy’s suit states that the FEIS “focuses primarily on economic benefits to the Town of Babylon and disregards the negative environmental impact on the surrounding areas.” The lawsuit states the document also “disregards the surrounding residential communities’ lack of support for this project.”
Among the issues the lawsuit cites are how stormwater runoff, air emissions and traffic will harm residents. Foy’s lawsuit seeks to overturn the town’s acceptance of the FEIS and have a “more comprehensive environmental review.”
The lawsuit also accuses the town board of having “ignored the questionable use of financial incentive” from Bristol. The developer has offered more than $2 million in givebacks to Wyandanch and Wheatley Heights, centered around discussions with two civic associations, Concerned Citizens of Wyandanch and Concerned Taxpayers of Wheatley Heights/Dix Hills.
Babylon Town’s response to the lawsuit seeks for it to be dismissed on procedural grounds. The response notes that the SEQRA process has not been finished and that Foy lives more than 500 feet from the site — lacking “proximity standards” to challenge the SEQRA — and did not name Bristol, nor Pinelawn, in the suit.
Town spokesman Ryan Bonner declined to comment on the lawsuit. Bonner said that the SEQRA process is not finished, as the town has to complete a Findings Statement, which is “the environmental decision on the project and the mitigation measures the Board will require.”
The application process is ongoing, Bonner said, and the town still has to adopt the new zoning code, approve a requested subdivision and approve the rezoning of site. There will also be a planning board hearing on site plan approval, he said.
Foy, who is an administrator for the Half Hollow Hills school district, last week asked the court to adjourn the matter until April 1. She told Newsday that she plans to amend her filing to include Bristol and Pinelawn, and add residents to the suit who live closer to the site.
Bram Weber, attorney for Bristol, declined to comment on the lawsuit. Pinelawn spokeswoman Katherine Heaviside also declined to comment, noting that “Pinelawn Memorial Park and Arboretum is not a party to the suit.”
Foy told Newsday that many of the concerns residents raised during public hearings on the proposal were left unaddressed, including worries about the impact of paving over a wooded area, and the future of Greenlawn Cemetery, a historic Black and Indigenous cemetery that abuts the site. She said she is also concerned about the proximity of the industrial park's entrance on Little East Neck Road to the entrance of popular Kevin Ver Pault Park.
She said her goal is to prevent the zoning change for the site.
“Once they change that zoning, that’s permanent, so even if Bristol drops out, another company can come in and then every time we have to have this fight,” she said.
A Wheatley Heights resident has filed a lawsuit against the Town of Babylon over a proposed 100-acre industrial park in neighboring Wyandanch.
The Article 78 suit, which is a legal action used to challenge state and local government decisions, was filed by Love Foy last month. The town on Feb. 26 asked State Supreme Court Judge Kathy Bergmann to dismiss the suit.
The town is considering the application of San Francisco-based Bristol Group to develop a more than 100-acre parcel owned by Pinelawn Cemetery. The proposed industrial park would be the largest development in Babylon Town in decades and require approval of a new zoning district proposed by Bristol.
The park would have nine one-story buildings on wooded land leased from Pinelawn Cemetery that runs from Little East Neck Road to North 28th Street and from south of Circle Drive to Long Island Avenue.
Public hearings on the proposal have brought out neighbors in opposition.
Environmental concerns cited
Foy, 53, filed the lawsuit against Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer and the other four members of the town board. The focus of her suit is the State Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQRA, process for the project, and the town board’s acceptance of Bristol’s Final Environmental Impact Statement, or FEIS, for the project at its Jan. 15 meeting.
Foy’s suit states that the FEIS “focuses primarily on economic benefits to the Town of Babylon and disregards the negative environmental impact on the surrounding areas.” The lawsuit states the document also “disregards the surrounding residential communities’ lack of support for this project.”
Among the issues the lawsuit cites are how stormwater runoff, air emissions and traffic will harm residents. Foy’s lawsuit seeks to overturn the town’s acceptance of the FEIS and have a “more comprehensive environmental review.”
The lawsuit also accuses the town board of having “ignored the questionable use of financial incentive” from Bristol. The developer has offered more than $2 million in givebacks to Wyandanch and Wheatley Heights, centered around discussions with two civic associations, Concerned Citizens of Wyandanch and Concerned Taxpayers of Wheatley Heights/Dix Hills.
Babylon Town’s response to the lawsuit seeks for it to be dismissed on procedural grounds. The response notes that the SEQRA process has not been finished and that Foy lives more than 500 feet from the site — lacking “proximity standards” to challenge the SEQRA — and did not name Bristol, nor Pinelawn, in the suit.
Town spokesman Ryan Bonner declined to comment on the lawsuit. Bonner said that the SEQRA process is not finished, as the town has to complete a Findings Statement, which is “the environmental decision on the project and the mitigation measures the Board will require.”
The application process is ongoing, Bonner said, and the town still has to adopt the new zoning code, approve a requested subdivision and approve the rezoning of site. There will also be a planning board hearing on site plan approval, he said.
Worries for historic cemetery
Foy, who is an administrator for the Half Hollow Hills school district, last week asked the court to adjourn the matter until April 1. She told Newsday that she plans to amend her filing to include Bristol and Pinelawn, and add residents to the suit who live closer to the site.
Bram Weber, attorney for Bristol, declined to comment on the lawsuit. Pinelawn spokeswoman Katherine Heaviside also declined to comment, noting that “Pinelawn Memorial Park and Arboretum is not a party to the suit.”
Foy told Newsday that many of the concerns residents raised during public hearings on the proposal were left unaddressed, including worries about the impact of paving over a wooded area, and the future of Greenlawn Cemetery, a historic Black and Indigenous cemetery that abuts the site. She said she is also concerned about the proximity of the industrial park's entrance on Little East Neck Road to the entrance of popular Kevin Ver Pault Park.
She said her goal is to prevent the zoning change for the site.
“Once they change that zoning, that’s permanent, so even if Bristol drops out, another company can come in and then every time we have to have this fight,” she 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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