On Wednesday, Aug. 10, the Town of Islip planning board held their meeting at Islip Town Hall West.

The first item on the agenda was a town board application recommendation item for West Islip Gas Inc., located at 225 Higbie Lane on the northeast corner of Higbie Lane and West Islip Boulevard, West Islip.

The applicant requested a change of zone from Business 1 district to Business 3 District, a town board special permit for a gasoline service station, and a planning board special permit for a convenience market. Site-plan modifications are required as part of this application.

Kevin O’Brien, of O’Brien Law PC, was at the meeting as a representative for the applicant and said that his client is seeking to upgrade an existing gas/service station. The application has previously been presented to the planning board and at that time, concerns came up regarding landscaping and the number of pump islands.

The client agreed to changes from the board and the community, but did ask for the hours of the location to be extended from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sean Colgan, a staff member for the planning department, noted that the town’s traffic consultant expressed that the size of the fuel delivery trucks needs to be limited and the deliveries need to occur out of the peak hours for the site to adequately function.

The board voted and granted the application, subject to the covenants and restrictions, and allowed the site to be open until 11 p.m.

The board also held a decision for Glen Tilkin for a site located at 135 Sunrise Highway in West Islip on the northeast corner of Sunrise Highway and Kane Street. The applicant requested a parking relaxation in connection with a change of use of a 5,000-square-foot retail store to a medical office in a multi-tenant shopping center. The space was formerly a mattress store and the applicant is looking to make it a pediatric care facility.

The board voted to grant the application, subject to certain conditions.

The board held another decision item, this time for Paul Aniboli, managing member for a site located at 625 Eastview Drive in Central Islip on the east side of Eastview Drive, 300 feet south of Lowell Avenue.

The applicant requested a site-plan modification to exceed the allowable FAR and lot occupancy for a public storage facility. The board voted to approve the application with the condition that allows the applicant to record a new covenant deeming the old one null and void.

The last application the board heard was from 135 Pine Aire Drive Bay Shore LLC, for a site located at 135 Pine Aire Drive in Bay Shore on the north side of Pine Aire Drive, approximately 1,610 feet east of Sagtikos Parkway. The applicant requested a change of zone from Business 1 District and Industrial 1 District to all Industrial Transition District and a planning board special permit for a recycling center/transfer station. Site-plan modifications are required as part of the application. Planning board staff noted that the applicant initially came before the board on Sept. 9, 2021, and that the biggest issue was the use of a neighboring property’s driveway.

The site plan has since been modified with revised access to get into the site. The board voted to approve the application.

The next Town of Islip planning board meeting will be on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 6 p.m.