East Farmingdale residents concerned about proposal to bring warehouse to Conklin Street
Developers referred News 12 to their corporate communications contact after the meeting when asked for a reaction to comments from the community.
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East Farmingdale residents spoke out against a proposed warehouse plan during a Babylon zoning board meeting Thursday evening.
The proposal would build a warehouse on Conklin Street in East Farmingdale.
Residents who live in the community across the street from where the proposed site would be want the zoning board to know one thing.
"There's a large, healthy community in East Farmingdale that is concerned about bringing tractor trailers, noise pollution, smog pollution into our area,” said Peter Muzia, of East Farmingdale.
Residents repeatedly raised safety concerns during the two-hour-long hearing. Donna Sutherland, who also lives nearby, says Conklin Street has already seen too many crashes that have claimed lives.
"In 2014, we lost five teenagers,” she said. "If you add 30 to 40 more [trucks] that's where it's going to be detrimental to our neighborhood and to that street. It cannot handle that kind of traffic."
It's still unclear which company would move into the warehouse if it’s built. Prologis, the company behind the development, says it's too early in the process to select a tenant.
"It's not ‘Field of Dreams’, if you build it, they will come,” said Muzia.
James Banz, like many of his neighbors, remains skeptical of the proposal.
"How could you say that it's going to be a 24/7 operation and predict there's going to be eight trucks during the peak hours,” he said. “If you don't know who the tenants are, how could you possibly predict that?"
As the zoning board considers next steps, neighbors tell us their minds are already made up.
"It's just not going to work at that location,” said Sutherland. “We just want them to find another location. That's it."
Developers referred News 12 to their corporate communications contact after the meeting when asked for a reaction to comments from the community.
The record for public comment will stay open until April 3.
A Prologis spokesperson said, “We’re looking forward to building a modern and sustainable logistic facility that will contribute to the local economy. As part of the development process, we will continue to engage with the city along the way.”
