Deer Park landowner applies to tear down houses, build grocery store

The Town of Babylon is considering an application to demolish two houses on a residential parcel on Bay Shore Road in Deer Park and build a new grocery store.

Eneyet Chawdhury, the owner of the parcel at the northwest corner of Bay Shore and Commack roads in Deer Park, plans to build an 8,430-square-foot single-story building to house a grocery store and two smaller retail shops.

He would operate the 6,250-square-foot grocery store, which would face Bay Shore Road with driveways on that road and on Commack Road. There will be no driveways on Franklin Avenue.

Chawdhury appeared before the town planning board on Dec. 10 and will apply to the zoning board of appeals for a zone change from residential to business, and a variance to create 47 parking spots instead of the required 55 spots.

Michael Carney lives on Franklin Avenue near the parcel and expressed concerns that the parking lot at night would attract drug activity, as he has seen elsewhere in the neighborhood, he said.

He also took issue with a dumpster close to adjacent homes.

“That dumpster is right behind my neighbor’s house,” he said, concerned it would bring odors, rats and other animals.

Planning board chairman Patrick Halpin said, “We’ll look at that carefully with the planners.”

Another Franklin Avenue resident, Frank Ruf, asked the planning board to ensure the project includes several components, like fencing around the property and lights that don’t shine into neighbors’ yards.

Halpin assured him the lighting would be dark-sky friendly, minimizing glare and reducing light trespass.

Ruf noted that the nearby Tanger Outlets brings traffic to the area and drivers use Franklin Avenue as a cut through to avoid Bay Shore Road. He feared the new stores would bring additional traffic.