Proposed Copiague condo development stalls as Babylon board takes no action on rezoning

A proposed development in Copiague that has gone from apartments to condominiums may now become single-family homes after the Babylon Town Board voted not to take action on a rezoning application.

MR Property Builders, based in Bay Shore, first proposed building 44 apartments on 45th Street between Pacific and Prospect streets in 2017, according to town officials. It was then cut to 40 units and submitted in May 2018 to the planning board, which recommended the town board grant a rezoning change from residence to multiple residence.

The town board held a hearing the following month, and after several people expressed opposition to the development on the wooded 2-acre site, Supervisor Rich Schaffer told MR Property Builders to “go back to the drawing board” and come up with a compromise.

In 2019 the company proposed 30 condominiums instead, but while the planning board again recommended the rezoning, there was pushback from the town on the density, so in 2020 the developer proposed decreasing the amount of units to 24. The rezoning application remained stagnant for the next two years.  

Rachel Scelfo, the town’s planning commissioner, said she had been concerned that the development’s entrance and exit were not on a major road but rather a “very residential in character” side street.

“We had some concerns in planning, there were some community concerns,” Scelfo said.

At a special town board meeting on Aug. 16, the board voted 3-0 — with members Anthony Manetta and Terence McSweeney absent — to take no action on the rezoning request.

“I think at the end of the day, the application was not going to be approved by the town board for a rezoning, and they have the ability to determine that they don’t want to hear an application,” Scelfo said.

Rich Rauff, a partner in MR Property Builders, said the town had told him the rezoning was unlikely.

“We were kind of discouraged because if you want to provide affordable housing, really the only way to do it is through density,” he said. “We thought it was a great fit for the neighborhood.”

Rauff said he is now putting together a proposal to build eight to nine single-family homes.

“We haven’t officially submitted anything yet,” he said, noting the town’s lack of action on another condo proposal in North Amityville that he finally withdrew. “We’re kind of gun-shy at this point.”

Rauff pointed to about a dozen Copiague residents who signed letters in support of the 45th Street apartments. One of them, Doris Redmon, said Friday that she didn’t recall stating support for that proposal but would prefer homes be built.

“This way there’s not so many people on this one street,” she said.

Rosemarie Dearing, a 45th Street resident who opposed the apartments and condos, said she welcomes single-family homes but hopes they are affordable.

“That’s what we’ve been asking for since the beginning,” Dearing said. “I hate seeing the property just vacant. I’d like to see something happen there, but I do worry about the affordability.”

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.