Redevelopment of Route 110 in East Farmingdale
May 30, 2017
The Town of Babylon’s plan to revitalize the Route 110 corridor in East Farmingdale, NY keeps moving forward. The Town began targeting this area for transformation in 2005. It now looks like the Town may be closer than ever to achieving its goal of redeveloping 100 acres surrounding the intersection of Route 110 and Conklin Street.
The targeted area poses challenges to redevelopment. There are height constraints and a runway protection zone associated with Republic Airport. The Route 110-Conklin Street intersection is user unfriendly and unsafe. The automobile-oriented nature of the area, including large parking lots, limited sidewalks, and widely disbursed buildings, is not conducive to pedestrian and bicycle users. In addition, past industrial uses may have left a legacy of contamination.
East Farmingdale Design Charrette
Residents, business owners and other interested parties participated in a multi-day meeting in January and February 2017 with a design team hired by the Town to flesh out ideas and concepts of what the community wants to see in this redevelopment effort. In April 2017, the results of this meeting, referred to as a design charrette, were presented by the design team in a report entitled East Farmingdale Design Charrette.
The lynchpin of the design hinges on re-opening and upgrading the East Farmingdale Long Island Rail Road station, which has been shuttered for almost 30 years. The MTA earmarked $5 million from its capital budget toward this effort. This closed station is adjacent to properties that were part of Republic Airport and are currently owned by the state. The plan calls for these parcels to be the core of a transit-oriented development location. The plan also includes a bus rapid transit stop that Suffolk County is planning for the Route 110-Conklin Street intersection.
Redevelopment Wish List
The charrette participants came up with a wish list of big ideas. These include walkways, pedestrian crossings, bicycle lanes, and mixed use retail and residential with pocket parks. The residential components would include single family homes, apartments and affordable housing. Other ideas coming out of the charrette were a museum, transit hub, and green space. The design team commented on the desire of many participants for a village-like feel, rather than an urban city vibe, for the redevelopment. The design team also noted that community gathering spaces and cultural facilities are currently missing from the targeted area and should be included in the redevelopment.
The design team drafted a Form-Based Code that will help guide future development. The code, while still a first draft, provides physical details such as height restrictions, distances between buildings, landscape specifications and open space requirements.
Check out the Town of Babylon’s website for more information about this project.