The Babylon Town Board held a public hearing Wednesday on a proposed full property tax exemption for veterans certified 100% permanently and totally disabled, closing the hearing and reserving decision rather than voting on it immediately.
Marine Corps veteran George Riveros urged the board to pass the measure and asked local school districts, which control the largest share of a property tax bill, to hold votes on matching exemptions. "We just want to see a vote come to fruition out of respect to everyone in this room has served," he said.
Mark Wanamaker, who said he has a SCAR hearing scheduled over his own exemption paperwork, told the board that 21 veterans and their families on Long Island have lost their houses to tax sales and asked the board to consider a waiver for people turned down this year because school boards and other taxing bodies did not respond in time. A statement from former Councilman Jacqueline Gordon, read into the record by Councilman Gregory, said the exemption "cannot be fully realized for our veterans unless our school districts also act."
The board also held a hearing on a proposed local law regulating electric vehicle charging and renewable energy installations. Michael Pitzer argued the draft safety standards go beyond what evidence calls for and could discourage EV adoption, and another speaker who gave comments at the hearing raised similar concerns about the rules being overly restrictive for single- and multi-family homes.
Board members clarified the item was for public comment only, with no vote scheduled. "It's not on for action," one member said, adding that the planning department would review the comments and report back to the board.
Two rezoning applications also went to public hearing without a vote: one to remove split residential zoning from a pharmaceutical manufacturing building at 26 Bethpage Road in Copiague, presented by attorney John Anzalone, and another to subdivide a 3.79-acre West Babylon shopping center site to add a two-story, 10-unit apartment building next to the existing Crunch Fitness plaza, presented by attorney Nicole Blanda.
On a separate matter, the board approved a resolution giving the owner of a vacant, boarded-up house at 19 Brewster Lane in Amityville until Dec. 2 to sell the property, while holding further enforcement action in abeyance. Owner Anthony Podias told the board he purchased the property about two years ago, has secured it with a fence and lock, and is now trying to sell it amid a dispute with a neighbor.
The board also approved a consent resolution agenda minus item 691, which was moved to the regular agenda, and adopted resolutions 708 through 716, including several decided by roll call votes of 5-0.