Legal fight for Frontier Park may be long

There are 40 trailer parks on Long Island, all but one in Suffolk County. Residents in that Syosset park have been embroiled in a legal battle with developers since 2007.

Frontier Park in Amityville could face a similar battle. Residents are fighting back, hoping to retain their homes, or at least be compensated for them.

They say H. Lee Blumberg -- an Amityville attorney listed in state documents as Frontier Park Corp.'s chief executive -- never reinvested the rent back into the park and did not try to bring the park up to code. They also say Babylon Town was lax in enforcing town code.

Katherine Heaviside, spokeswoman for Blumberg and developer R Squared Llc, said Blumberg patched streets annually, maintained fences and repaired water main breaks, but said installing sewers could not be done without moving out a majority of the homes. Heaviside said payment for homes would not be discussed.

Town Supervisor Steve Bellone agreed on the sewers and said through a spokesman that the town issued numerous citations for illegal construction, fire code violations and debris.

But, he said, Blumberg pushed back against fixing code issues, saying he would have to pass on retrofit costs to residents who could not afford them. Heaviside could not be reached for comment on that point.

The town planning board must approve the development plans. Bellone is supportive, saying the developer is willing to give residents time to move out whereas addressing existing safety issues would immediately force out residents.