24-hour gas station approved in Bayport

The Islip Town Board approved a proposed 24-hour gas station in Bayport after previously rejecting the plan that became the subject of a lawsuit the town lost.

Councilors voted 5-0 at the June 20 zoning hearing to approve QuickChek’s special-use permit to build a more than 6,000-square-foot combination gas station, convenience store and deli on a two-acre parcel at 750 Montauk Hwy., near Snedecor Avenue.

The board rejected the proposal in 2015 after public outcry over traffic safety concerns. QuickChek then sued the town and won.

Town officials ran out of legal options to keep the gas station out of the hamlet, Islip Attorney John R. DiCioccio said at the meeting.

“Tonight, we really don’t have a decision, the application is remanded to this board to approve the special permit,” he said.

DiCioccio added town attorneys had “vigorously defended” against QuickChek’s lawsuit. According to court records, the New York State Supreme Court filed a judgment siding with QuickChek in April 2016. The decision found that while the station would increase traffic by 3 percent, there was no evidence it would have any greater impact than other permitted uses.

“The alleged increase in traffic volume was an improper ground for the denial of the special permit,” court records said. DiCioccio said town lawyers had appealed the Supreme Court ruling to the Appellate Division of the Second Judicial Department, which rejected the town in 2018. The New York State Court of Appeals then denied listening to an additional appeal by Islip, DiCioccio said.

The town board initially rejected the special-use permit application for a 6,584-square-foot gas station. Dozens of residents protested the gas station at a 2015 board meeting, arguing the development would bring congestion to the area near Bayport-Blue Point High School and the Bayport Fire Department. QuickChek, based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, would also hurt smaller competing business in the area, residents said.

No one from the public spoke against the proposal during last week’s meeting.

Keith Brown, an attorney for QuickChek, said the company will be a model business in Bayport.

“We went through a tremendous amount of public outreach," Brown said. "One thing you need to know in terms of QuickChek, is they love becoming a member of the community and they will embrace the community.”

Islip senior planner Sean Colgan told board members QuickChek agreed to change its exterior, including adding windows and using additional bricks on the façade. QuickChek also agreed to add landscaping and turning lanes, he said.

“This is a superior proposal than what was denied in 2015,” Colgan said.