Neighbors press Town of Babylon planning board over Mosquito Squad site plan amid chemical and parking concerns

The Town of Babylon planning board heard hours of public comment Jan. 26 on a site‑plan application by Long Island Mosquito and Tick Control (doing business as Mosquito Squad) to use a 3,500‑square‑foot industrial building as a dispatch and administrative location with outdoor storage for service vehicles.

Attorney Gerard Glass and engineer Christopher Labate described proposed site work including new drainage dry wells, a reduced driveway, relocation of a utility pole, added landscaping and a bike rack. LabPro Engineering’s Christopher Labate said the property requires a parking variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals because the plan calls for 15 required stalls while the applicant is providing eight. Glass said the outdoor storage would be limited to “minivans and small pickup trucks” and estimated about 12 vehicles would be stored on site, with additional vehicles kept at off‑site storage.

Neighbors voiced multiple concerns about air quality, odors and stormwater. Linda White of 80 Columbus Boulevard told the board she and other residents include children with special needs and elderly people and asked, “What are they going to do with these chemicals? ... Our health is threatened.” Tracy Brown of 7 Saint John Street said she does not understand “if this is a residential area, why is all of these factories coming in?” and expressed fear about fumes and drainage.

The applicant’s operations director, introduced in the hearing as Anthony (last name transcribed variably in the record), described how the company stores and handles products. He said “all of our products are nonflammable. They’re mostly water based,” that chemicals are kept inside a locked chemical cage in one‑gallon bottles and larger drums sit on spill containment pallets inside the warehouse, and that crew members take pre‑measured concentrate out to job sites to mix in backpack sprayers. He also told the board the company follows the Department of Environmental Conservation’s triple‑wash requirements for emptied bottles.

Glass told the board he met with Fire Marshal Morgan Davis about the automatic sprinkler issue and reported that they were “comfortable on waiving that requirement” in preliminary discussion; the board said it would review the sprinkler question with the fire marshal. The applicants said they had provided the fire marshal and health department with a list of stored chemicals and that there were no current health‑department objections recorded in the planning file.

Several residents asked how any spills or rinse water would be handled; the applicant said typical wash water and any incidental rinses are routed to municipal sewers and that no chemicals are discharged to groundwater. The record shows the board and applicant discussed limits on idling, hours of operation and the expectation that the ZBA would review parking relief. The applicant said working hours would not exceed 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The planning board closed public comment and voted to reserve decision to review written comments, departmental input and revised site plans; the board left the record open for written submissions and follow‑up from staff.

Next steps: the application remains under review and will return to the board after ZBA action, any outstanding fire‑marshal or health‑department conditions are resolved, and staff reviews revised plans.