On a stormy Friday night in Sayville, a group of around 30 volunteers of different backgrounds gathered to organize against a proposed 4.2-million-square-foot Amazon warehouse on Veterans Memorial Highway and Sunrise Highway in Holbrook.
In committees grouped around member specialties and interests like environmental, traffic, social media, and outreach, residents organizing against the proposed $1 billion Amazon warehouse in Holbrook reviewed publicly released documents while organizing their plan through research, letter-writing, and advocacy.
“We’ve had people from all over Suffolk County, we’ve had people reach out from Nassau County. This is really bothering Long Island,” said organizer and Holbrook resident Stephanie Volpe. “They’re worried about our water, our environment, and the traffic.”
A soon-to-be-renamed Facebook group called “Holbrook Residents Opposing the Mega Warehouse” has gained over 900 followers in one month, with one member creating an informative website called savesuffolk.org.
Some residents against the project filed Freedom of Information Law requests with the Town of Islip for any relevant documents that could be publicly released. Materials like site overviews, an almost 700-page traffic study, and a preliminary environmental document were made public to the group in recent weeks, and shared with The Suffolk County News.
If built, according to publicly released documents, the facility would generate around 555 truck trips on weekdays, with 809, expected during seasonal weekday peaks. Around 2,046 parking spaces would be built in the current proposal.
A conceptual site plan shows if built, traffic lights would be placed at the corner of Veterans Memorial Highway and Church Street, and along a street extending from Beacon Drive onto Sunrise Highway’s north service road.
The environmental assessment form was filled out by the applicant Islip NY Hold Co. LLC, whose address matches Scannell Properties in Indianapolis, Ind., which previously proposed a development on the site which was called Islip Pines. In the form, construction is estimated to take 22 months if approved.
According to the assessment, around 100 acres of the 137 acres of forest on the property would be removed, but no wetlands, of which .63 acres are identified as “recharge basin,” would be removed. If built, 83.3 acres of roads, building and other impervious surfaces, and 16.6 acres of landscaping would exist.
The applicant also checked off on the form that the site doesn’t feature wetlands or waterbodies, although residents like Volpe have raised concerns about the facility’s potential impact on the Sans Souci Lakes immediately south of the currently forested property.
“This drains into the Sans Souci watershed, which just blows my mind that they’re even considering developing it to this magnitude,” Volpe said.
The assessment form also estimates that around 72,000 gallons of water would be used from the Suffolk County Water Authority daily, and would generate around 61,200 gallons of liquid wastes to be drained through the Parkland Sewage Treatment Plant. With no development now existing, the form said consultations with Suffolk County Department of Public Works will take place to determine infrastructure extensions prior to construction.
Amazon and its representatives are not scheduled to appear before any town or county boards. In August, a Town of Islip spokesperson said Amazon had not completed its application to build a Holbrook warehouse. As of Monday, Sept. 28, the town’s planning department has not received any updates from Amazon regarding its application, the spokesperson said.
When asked questions about residents’ concerns, Amazon, in a statement, said they’re “committed to being a greater neighbor throughout the review process.”
“Across the country, community input has helped shape how we design and operate our facilities and we welcome that same collaboration here,” said Amazon spokesperson, Austin Stowe, in a statement, which they also shared with Newsday earlier this month. “We look forward to engaging with residents, sharing more about the project, and hearing their feedback.”
Stowe added that the facility would generate 1,000 full-time jobs and “bring significant new tax revenue to local public services, including the Suffolk County police and Holbrook Fire District.” Stowe also confirmed that Amazon is seeking tax incentives to build its proposed Holbrook facility, and that if Amazon doesn’t receive the incentives outlined in its application to the IDA, it will not move forward with the project. The overall application process, Stowe estimates, will take around a year-and-a-half.
Local county and state elected officials have called out Amazon for seeking tax breaks, including longtime IDA-opponent Suffolk County Legis. Anthony Piccirillo, who warned at the Amazon opposition group’s first meeting at the Holbrook Fire House Headquarters in August, that “When school taxes are evaded, it falls back onto the community.”
At the Sayville organizing meeting last Friday, Volpe said the opposition group is a bipartisan coalition. The committee-building meeting was the latest public outreach event for the opposing residents, who have attended local civic association meetings alongside elected officials like Piccirillo to inform communities about what they know.
“Right now, we need more civic associations joining the coalition,” said organizer Ann Marie Governale. “Strength in numbers is essential.”
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