Economic Recovery Zone Proposed for Station

The Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency will hear a proposal Thursday to create Economic Recovery Zones, including one for Huntington Station.

Steve Rossetti, the IDA's board secretary, will present the idea at the agencys meeting in Hauppauge.

The proposal would grant incentives in a blighted commercial area designated as an ERZ  "to any worthy applicant that will bring a new business or make a substantial reinvestment in a existing business within the ERZ," he said.

The zone would be created for a specific geographic region, meaning  those incentives couldn't slip away into more viable commercial areas.

For Huntington Station, Rossetti identifies a zone running primarily along New York Avenue from Olive Street in the north to West 23rd Street in the south.

Rossetti said the IDA "should consider any requests for the creation of an ERZ from community leaders or any creditable source, which may include a request from a member of the SCIDA board."

Real estate developers of commercial /mixed use or industrial real estate projects within the ERZ would also be eligible for SCIDA incentives. 

"The SCIDA should focus not only on job creation when assessing the worthiness of a application, but also the size of the investment being made into the business or development project, or the need  the business will fill in the community," Rossetti said.

The IDA meeting is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. at the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge.