Residents ask for relief from parking lot mess in Sayville

Source: SCN/Fuentes

This isn’t representative of beautiful downtown Sayville, says Greater Sayville Chamber president Eileen Tyznar, who has been working on getting the lot fixed and cleaned up since the start of her presidency about a year ago and during her vice presidency the year prior.

The town-owned lot, she said, is in terrible condition with several potholes, leftover bricks from an old construction site, piles of sand left for usage as a large cat litter box, and light outages. And while most Main Street business and property owners keep their property nicely maintained, Tyznar said, there are a few exceptions on the north side due to the lack of regular maintenance by the town despite complaints from residents and store owners, which created the current condition of the lot.

The Town of Islip, according to a town spokesperson, has been made aware of the issue and went out early Friday, Sept. 20 afternoon to make some repairs.

However, the condition of the lot, Tyznar explained, has been declining for over three years now. It is her hope the town will set a date for future paving. Covering the potholes, she said, are just temporary fixes.

“It has been an eyesore for quite some time and this lot needs to be cleaned up,” she said, stating that the bottom line is every parking spot is needed for use by the Main Street stores and their customers. “The chamber isn’t going to stop their efforts until it’s fixed.”

The lot, according to the town, was paved approximately 10 years ago. However, a portion of the lot, marked by yellow lines, is business owned, while the majority white spots are town owned. 

“The town’s portion of the parking lot was paved approximately 10 years ago and will be reassessed next paving season,” said a town spokesperson, promising that they would continue to monitor the situation.

Still, Tyznar said, she still feels the town can start to issue summonses to those few building/property owners to clean up their messes, including the pile of bricks located behind the old Four Star building as well as the overflowing cesspool creating smells from the Starbucks. However, due to rumors of moving to a new location and no response from corporate Starbucks, pumping seems to be out of the foreseeable future, she added.

Another issue, she said, is safety. The condition of the lot is a cause for concern and just earlier this month, Tyznar witnessed a customer fall in the lot directly behind the Rite-Aid. Also, she said, the light outage behind the Starbucks and other stores has created a dangerous and uncomfortable feeling for employees and business owners leaving at night. 

Michelle Flecken, owner of Island Salt and Spa, agreed, stating that it is very dark at night with lots of debris and pavement in poor condition.

“It’s getting darker earlier and I have a lot of senior customers who are very nervous in the dark,” she said, hoping to also see the issue resolved.

Tyznar hopes the town will comply by first cleaning up the lot, removing the sand and fixing the light fixtures, then issuing summonses to the select few building owners to remove the bricks and debris, ultimately setting a date to repave it.

“We just want to know what their [the town’s] action plan is,” she added. 

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