Port Jefferson Station / Terryville Civic Should Reconsider Position

How unfortunate that both U-Haul and the Port Jefferson Station Terryville Civic Association were unable to come up with a mutually acceptable vision for the 84 Lumber property.  The location has been blighted for over 6 years and currently represents both an eyesore and potential safety hazard for residents and volunteer firefighters alike. 

Although not entirely in keeping with the Terryville Civics’ or RT 112 corridor study’s idea for how this location should be developed, I believe U-Hauls approach at ‘rehabilitation’ rather than redevelopment is in keeping with sound environmental and sustainable development principles. The Civic leadership was unwilling to support this proposal for reasons not entirely clear and speaks of other potential, as yet ‘unnamed’ developers and has expressed a desire for the development of an indoor sports complex.  How the Civic determined the market need and potential traffic impact of such a project has not been explained.   

Regrettably we will need to live with this property in its current state for the foreseeable future and I question if the Civics actions served the long term best interests of the Port Jefferson Station community. Both RT347 and RT112 are dotted with many vacant car dealerships and storefronts and too few developers willing to invest, clearly the Civic is taking a calculated risk in not supporting this project in the hope that another one more to its liking comes along, time will tell if it was a risk worth taking.  

Anthony Caravana
Port Jefferson Station