A project to overhaul acres of woods in one Suffolk County community is now one step closer to becoming a reality.
Last Wednesday, the Babylon Town Board approved the creation of a new zoning code, known as Planned Industrial Park District-2.
According to town documents, the code would allow the town to greenlight development that "promotes sustainable economic growth, stimulates job creation, fosters innovation, and creates a well-planned and coordinated technology, business and industrial park development."
The code was designed in response to a proposal that would convert woodlands in Wyandanch along Long Island Avenue and Little East Neck Road into a 1.5‑million‑square‑foot industrial park with nine buildings, 380 truck bays and 2,000 parking lots.
Supporters of the project believe it will create much-needed jobs and generate tax revenue in the Wyandanch area.
"All this development they're doing for Wyandanch is a good thing," Wyandanch resident Frank Aguilar said. "There's always going to be people that are not going to like it, but I think it's a good thing."
There has been a strong vocal opposition to the project, mostly from people who live in the Wheatley Heights neighborhood to the north. They have shown up in numbers to several town meetings arguing the project would lower their property values, create too much traffic and lead to excess pollution in the area.
A Babylon town spokesperson told News 12, “This action is not a zoning change, but rather adopts a new code that could potentially be used at this site. A zoning change allowing the project can only be scheduled after the new zoning code completes the review process with the Suffolk County Planning Commission.”
Those next steps won't happen until the new year.
