Employee parking on the horizon

Remediation on the West Main Street National Grid natural gas property located across from the Blue Point Brewing Co. was completed this summer, prompting Patchogue Village mayor Paul Pontieri to inquire about the possibility of acquiring the space for potential parking.

Currently in conversation with National Grid, Pontieri said he hopes the site can serve as employee parking in the village sooner than the previously discussed parking garage, to be built behind the Suffolk County Sixth District Court. The intention would be to pave it and keep it gated so that employees can be shuttled back and forth, freeing up prime downtown spaces.

Pre-pandemic, Patchogue’s downtown sees about 400 to 500 spaces filled by employees on any given Friday and Saturday night, about a quarter of all available parking. Pontieri estimated that by freeing those spaces it would equate to almost 1,000 freed spaces, given the amount of time an employee usually occupies the spot, opposed to a shopper or diner that only utilizes the space for about an hour or two.

The only cost associated with the project would be the acquisition or rental fee, to be determined based on an agreement with National Grid. To pave and stripe it would also have minimal costs, explained trustee Tom Ferb, all of which could be done in-house and with meter money, costing little to nothing to the taxpayer.

“I think it would be great and a real light at the end of the tunnel,” Ferb added, noting the current situation of COVID-19.

The new site, should it be acquired, Pontieri said, would accommodate about 120 spaces, almost equivalent to the first deck of the previously proposed garage, at a fraction of the cost and much more easily maintained. The new parking would also require much less security monitoring and be completed quicker for a more immediate solution to the parking problem.

Patchogue was originally awarded $1 million as part of the county’s jump-start grant over two years ago, as well as a $1 million grant through the New York State Regional Economic Development Council’s Consolidated Funding Program. Both have since been set aside for parking.

“The village has asked us to consider utilizing the county funding for an alternative strategy to increase parking within the District Court lot without actually building a parking structure,” Suffolk County Legis. Rob Calarco said of the already obtained finding. “Our Department of Economic Development, who administers the Jump Start program, are currently reviewing the proposal. We will be meeting with the village in the future to discuss the proposal.”

The cost of garage construction was estimated at about $6 to $7 million, and almost half had been secured. Initially, it was proposed that one deck would be constructed, with the foundations in place to add additional decks in the future, totaling approximately 180 spots per deck. Each additional deck would have a cost as well, with the anticipation of adding one or two more as needed. All spots were to be metered in an effort to essentially pay for itself through a 20- to 30-year bond.

Although the garage might still be part of a more long-term solution to the village’s growing parking problem, the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce executive director David Kennedy and Restaurant Committee chair Jayme Bonanno welcome the idea of a sectioned-off employee parking area.

“This is something we have been talking about for a couple of years now. It would be a huge help to the village when things go back to normal,” said Bonanno. “We just need to keep employees safe by transporting them, but this new site seems promising and would be a good fit.”

Once the pandemic is under control, Kennedy added, he hopes the village businesses will get back to where we were before, with a high demand for parking.

“This could be a much quicker way to add parking,” he said, happy with the project’s potential. “We appreciate the village moving on [this] and coming up with a more immediate solution with a much sooner impact.”

Is it possible?

According to the Department of Environmental Conservation, the former Superfund Patchogue manufactured gas plant site is currently awaiting submittal of an engineering report documenting the completed remediation work as well as a site management plan to provide for long-term monitoring and maintenance to ensure proper future use of the property.

Though, once submitted and approved, the site may be redeveloped, subject to local planning approvals, of course. The DEC also noted that the site is suitable for parking as well as commercial, recreational and restricted residential (apartments, condos) uses.

The site is currently zoned for industrial use and served as a gas plant from 1904 to 1926, converting coal and/or petroleum products to a flammable gas, which was then used, in the surrounding community in the same way natural gas is used today.

The front portion, on Main Street, of the site is currently covered with concrete and the rear, towards the creek, is covered with grass. If parking was to be the desired use, DEC representatives said, the entire 3.6-acre site could be paved.

Is the site a health risk?

According to documents obtained from the DEC, some contaminated materials were removed from the site for disposal offsite, but a majority of the contamination in the soil was solidified in place. The primary contaminant of concern was coal tar. Also, according to the DEC, people are not drinking the contaminated groundwater because the area is served by a public water supply that gets water from a different source. Groundwater in the neighboring Patchogue River contains low levels of site-related contamination, but still exceeds New York State Ambient Groundwater Standards. The groundwater will continue to be monitored as part of the post remediation Site Management Plan. The Fish and Wildlife Resource Impact Analysis also found that there is not a significant risk associated with the contamination, to the fish and wildlife resources present.

What was the site before?

Compared with other gas manufacturing sites, according to the DEC, operations at the Patchogue site were conducted on a small scale and for a short period of time.

The Patchogue Gas Company was originally an independent company, but was sold to the Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO). Within a few years of the LILCO acquisition, the site was converted to store and distribute gas-manufactured sites. Gas was purchased from the Suffolk County Gas and Electric plant in Bay Shore and was distributed from the Patchogue Plant from 1914 through 1918. Gas production facilities remained at Patchogue for several years, but appear to have been used only on a standby basis.

From 1918 through 1970s, the facility served as an emergency gas storage facility. During this period a 60,000-cubic-foot gas holder and seven horizontal above-ground storage tanks were used for gas storage.

The gas storage and distribution facility remained until the 1970s when LILCO sold the property to a third party. From the mid-1970s through early 2005, the site was used as a refrigerator equipment and scrap storage yard.

In 1999, LILCO and Brooklyn Union Gas merged to form KeySpan. KeySpan re-acquired the site in 2005 for the purposes of remediation. National Grid acquired KeySpan in 2008 and currently maintains ownership of the site.

-This information was taken from background provided by the Department of Conservation