Plans Come Into Focus for B2K’s Suffolk County Acquisition

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A developer is preparing to build a number of buildings on the Flowerfield Fairgrounds in the Suffolk County hamlet of St. James, but critics aren’t ready to give up a fight over the site.

B2K Development is plotting to turn the 49-acre site into medical offices, an assisted living facility and a hotel, Newsday reported. The Jericho-based firm agreed to buy the land over the summer for $28.7 million, slicing off a section of a 63-acre tract owned by former defense contractor Gyrodyne.

The property is zoned for light industrial use, but Gyrodyne previously called for the exact uses B2K is pursuing for the site. One of B2K’s core business lines is the Bristol Assisted Living chain.

B2K intends to preserve more than 40 percent of the property for open space. The firm still needs to file a subdivision application with the Smithtown planning board, a process that includes a hearing.

That could give time to stoke the concerns that remain for local residents and officials. Suffolk Legis. Steven Englebright said the proposed development was “excessive and extreme,” calling for the county to deny tax breaks and a wastewater treatment system permit. He is worried the development could increase flooding issues and result in runoff polluting the Stony Brook Harbor.

Suffolk County Executive Edward Romaine also called for the land’s preservation, but isn’t involved in the permitting process and vowed not to intervene.

The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation previously expressed interest in buying the property for preservation, opening up one potential avenue if things with B2K fail to proceed. The department said in a statement that it “is continuing discussions with the property owner and stakeholders on the possibility of a future conservation outcome.”

B2K declined to comment to the publication.

Several years ago, Head of the Harbor Village and local residents sued Gyrodyne and the Town of Smithtown, looking to halt a preliminary proposal to subdivide the Flowerfield Fairgrounds into eight lots.

A judge dismissed the lawsuit after ruling Gyrodyne’s proposal aligned with zoning rules and the town’s comprehensive plan, though a civic group appealed the ruling months later.

— Holden Walter-Warner