Town Takes Legal Action To Clean Up 'Blight' At Gas Station

MASTIC BEACH, NY — Brookhaven Town officials said Tuesday that they have taken legal action to clean up a gas station in Mastic Beach.

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine and Councilman Dan Panico said a temporary restraining order was served on Aug. 7 at Track Gas Station, located on Neighborhood Road in Mastic Beach.

The TRO, the town said, prohibits the operation of a taxicab business and that the three contiguous lots are to be brought into compliance with residential zoning requirements set forth in Brookhaven Town code by removing all unregistered vehicles, debris, scrap metal — and ceasing the operation of a junk yard.

The town was further authorized to conduct inspections of the site to ensure compliance, Romaine and Panico said.

The premises, the town said, "have been a constant eyesore and an ongoing source of blight in the community."

Numerous violations of Brookhaven Town Code have been argued in Suffolk County District Court for more than a year and have led to the issuance of substantial fines, Romaine and Panico said in a release.

Despite the various enforcement efforts, the property owner failed to come into compliance, and continued to operate in contravention of town code, which prompted the town to seek relief in the Supreme Court, Romaine and Panico said.

“The Track property has been non-compliant for many years, and they’ve chosen to disregard the code violations that were issued to them," Romaine said. "We have provided the owners with more than enough time to fix the problems, but they have forced our hand to take action. I expect them to do the right thing and address the violations and clean up this blight as soon as possible.”

Panico added: "We tried in good faith to work with the owners of this property in District Court over the past several months. They have continually thumbed their nose at the town and the people of Mastic Beach, so we sought and obtained an order from a State Supreme Court justice to effectively close down the illegal cab company at this property and also force the remediation of a slew of code violations."

Panico added: "We are not going away because the people of Mastic Beach deserve better and this action should serve as an example to others in the area. While our unprecedented blighted home demolitions garner much attention, code enforcement on both residential and commercial properties like this is also ongoing and will continue."

Rashid Bhatti, owner of the property, said the property had been cleaned up and there was no longer any taxi company on the premises; he said the town was welcome to come and inspect the now cleaned-up parcel.