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Reshaping the face
Take a drive up Route 110 at 8:30 on a typical weekday morning. Start at Montauk Highway and travel north. Once Broadway morphs into Route 110, you leave behind the picturesque Village of Amityville and hit an unsightly reality. The charming brickwork disappears and is replaced by Sunoco, 7-Eleven, and a boarded up, abandoned home. North of Sunrise Highway, you notice the first green sign sporting a drawing of an airplane. If the artwork looks as if it were done by a child with white chalk and a stencil, you know it’s the universal symbol for "airport." Soon you spot the Sayonara Motel, A World of Safes, Nathan’s, Westy Self-Storage, and Polytechnic University. A visitor might conclude that you could fly into the area, store your possessions, eat a hot dog, visit a college, and rent a room for the night. Would he be correct? For years, the Rte. 110 corridor has been the subject of controversy. Is the development of the area beneficial or harmful to the community? Is the expansion worth the price in traffic, congestion, and pollution? Republic Airport, in particular, has been a focal point of the controversy. As early as the 1980s, the New York State Department of Transportation, which oversees Republic Airport, proposed building a hotel on Republic’s property, but the plan was killed due to fierce opposition. In 1999, the airport applied for a change in its design to accommodate larger (Category III) planes. Community leaders feared that these changes would invite other types of air traffic, such as larger freight and cargo jets, resulting in greater air traffic and noise pollution. "You don’t build an airport around a community; you build a community around an airport," said Emil Coppola, President of the Joint Council of Civic Associations and a Massapequa resident. "That way people have a chance to decide whether to live there or not." According to Coppola, Republic is trying to expand and become a major airport. "All they want to do," continued Coppola "is accommodate big business executives who don’t want to take time to ride out from the city, from La Guardia. And we, the taxpayers who live in these communities, are paying the price in pollution." Business executives are, in fact, the focal point of Republic’s plans. The airport announced last month that an Albany developer, Columbia Hospitality Group, is planning to build two hotels on six acres of Republic-owned property, adjacent to Polytechnic University. In early February, Columbia signed an agreement with New York State Department of Transportation, which owns the airport property. The agreement allows Columbia six months to conduct environmental research and a market analysis of the project, which includes a 120-room Marriott Courtyard and a 120-room Holiday Inn Staybridge Suites, designed as an extended stay facility. Gary Lewi, a spokesman for the Director of Republic believes that the developers will find the need for additional hotel space. According to Lewi, the Hilton in Huntington and the Melville Marriott are filled to capacity, the function of a strong economy. However, Marie Kupfer, general manager of the Hilton Huntington, gives the idea of further hotel development a mixed review. According to Kupfer, the recent softening of the economy must be factored in to any new development in the area. Although she is "cautiously optimistic" about preliminary results of her company’s first quarter, she said, "Our industry, as many other industries, haven’t done as well in the first quarter of this year as in the first quarter of last year." She is not convinced that the current market can support another full service hotel on Route 110, although in specific niches, such as extended stay facilities, some success may be realized. Republic’s Lewi, on the other hand, believes that the hotels will create jobs, attract more businesses, and enable Republic to meet its obligations to the aviation community. "Republic makes strategic contributions to Long Island’s economy and access to corporate aviation is a significant reason why companies would come to the area," said Lewi. "Republic is an air bridge to a global economy," said Lewi. "It needs to function efficiently while considering the needs of its neighbors." Babylon Councilman Steven Bellone is a strong proponent of hotel development. "It (the hotel development) was a goal of mine since my election four years ago. The 110 Corridor is the perfect location," said Bellone. "We’ve been working toward that goal." In an effort to attract developers, Town of Babylon officials amended the zoning codes on the Route 110 corridor to accommodate taller buildings, such as the hotels. A "commercial overlay district" has been established on Route 110 from the intersection of Route 109 north to the Huntington Town border. This stretch of 110, which did not allow for buildings taller than 35 feet, now can accommodate buildings as tall as 55 feet on the east side and 45 feet on the west side, except within 500 feet of residential property, where the height restriction remains 35 feet. This change will permit the construction of four story hotels, such as the ones proposed by the Albany developers. "We changed the zoning to make it more attractive to hotel developers," said Bellone. Last year, during the public hearings regarding zoning, some Farmingdale residents accused the Babylon Town Board of bombarding them with development. Helen Norjen, a Farmingdale civics leader, expressed her reservations at that time. Government officials, however, view the zoning changes as a way to boost the local economy. "The number one economic issue for the Town of Babylon is to bring in a quality hotel," said Town of Babylon Councilman Wayne Horsley. "We’re very excited about the prospect of a hotel in Babylon. All those dollars flow out of the Town when we go up north to the Hilton or the Marriott," said Horsley. "The 110 Corridor is Long Island’s downtown," Horsley added. "We’re creating an upscale environment which businesses and community residents can enjoy. It won’t create any more traffic problems than already exist on 110." However, to Lee Koppelman, Director of the Long Island Regional Planning Board, the biggest problem in the Route 110 corridor is the traffic congestion. Koppelman said that instead of the "piecemeal" process, which is "the antithesis of intelligent planning," it is "necessary to take a comprehensive view of the entire Corridor, from Montauk Highway up to Jericho Turnpike," and analyze the impact of further development. Koppelman questions the need for more hotels on Route 110 and suggests that sometimes corporations want to lock up a particular site in order to keep the competition out. This type of planning is detrimental to the local economy and environment. Before building more hotels, advises Koppelman, "examine the existing vacancy rates of the two hotels (in Huntington). If they’re operating at a 60 to 70 percent vacancy rate, why do we need a new hotel?" The current proposal is not Republic’s first attempt at courting the hotel industry. In the 1980s, a proposal for an Embassy Suites hotel was squashed due to community opposition and a souring of the economy. "Historically, we tried to build hotels in the past that have failed. It’s the perfect time now," said Councilman Bellone. "The economy is right and we are working with Republic Airport to make sure that the needs of the people of Babylon are met." When asked about community reaction to hotel development, Bellone said that most residents will support it. "They recognize that we need a hotel; it’s important to our future." Although not directly involved in the planning and decision making, the Town of Oyster Bay will be affected by development in Babylon. Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto cites "the need for hotels on the southern end of the 110 Corridor." Venditto said, " The two airport hotels will have a positive impact on the region, including the Town of Oyster Bay." The hotels will result in "job creation" and will "attract more businesses to the area." In addition, the hotels "will provide for additional, needed revenue for the Farmingdale School District." As a private entity on state-owned land, the hotel developers and Republic officials will be negotiating PILOT, or "payment in lieu of taxes." According to Horsley and Bellone, local municipalities, such as the Farmingdale School District and the East Farmingdale Fire District, will profit from the additional revenue. (The East Farmingdale Fire District now covers the airport and will cover the hotels.) In addition to the Republic-owned land, Babylon officials also view the upcoming sale of Polytechnic University as a possible site for a hotel. The University, which will be closing its 25-acre Farmingdale campus in June of 2002, will send its undergraduates to its Brooklyn campus. The graduate program will be decentralized, that is, the University will send instructors out to conduct classes at the work sites of major corporations. Polytechnic has several offers that it is considering, according to Greg Smith, Polytechnic’s Vice President for Finance and Administration. Smith said that Polytechnic, which is adjacent to Republic, on the east side of Route 110, wants to move the negotiation process along and would like to sign preliminary papers this month. "Polytechnic has been part of Long Island for over 30 years," said Smith. "We want to maintain our presence on Long Island." When asked if a hotel developer might be buying the property, Smith said that he could not reveal the identities of any of the potential buyers. He added that the University hopes the sale of their property will benefit the Town and Long Island. "We want to sell to someone who’s as good a citizen as we are." Whether the area can successfully support new development without a deleterious effect on the community remains to be seen. For Babylon’s Steve Bellone, "A Town of 210,000 residents is certainly big enough to support a first class hotel. It fits in with our overall plans to upgrade the entire Route 110 Corridor. As long as it’s done right, it can be a home run for the Town." On the other hand, the Civic Association’s Coppola claimed, "They’re going to widen 110 and ruin the community. It’s going to be too late." And in a statement reminiscent of Arthur Miller’s Willy Loman, Lee Koppelman cautioned, "Attention must be paid!"
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