Proposal Presented To Build New Animal Care Center In West Islip

WEST ISLIP, NY — A proposal to make a former veterinarian's office a historic landmark and turn it into an animal care center with on-site apartments for veterinarian students was met with opposition from some local community members.

Lisa Pace spoke during the recent Town of Islip planning board meeting on Wednesday on behalf of the applicant Roberto Composto who owns the nearby Veterinary Medical Center of Long Island.

Composto applied for a change of zone for an "overlay of Planned Landmark Preservation District" and a special permit to allow for an 8-unit apartment building at 467 Higbie Lane.

The area was home to the former office of long-time veterinarian, William Herbold, who passed away in 2019 and is currently owned by his wife. Composto, who is close to the Herbold family, wanted to maintain the current veterinary history and the "real" history of the barn on site, which was built in 1910.

Pace stated that the building was currently not safe and not up to code, which means it would most likely have to be gutted. The proposal hopes to keep the building unless it is not safe.

The plans would expand on the current two-story 2,620-square-foot structure, adding over 4,000-square-feet to the existing home. In addition, the plans would extend the barn by over 1,000-square-feet.

The plan would be to use the property for an animal care center with a kennel, groomer, veterinary office, and more, along with the apartment complex to house interns at Veterinary Medical Center of Long Island.

When asked if the applicant would restrict the use of the apartments to the interns, to which Pace responded that she believed that the applicants would "not be okay" restricting use for only interns.

The plan, according to Pace, is to have interns rent the apartments at a reduced rate for the interns. She claimed the area is the "perfect site" for the interns so that they would have close access to the nearby 24-hour hospital.

John Davis, the president of Willets Point association spoke during the meeting, claiming that West Islip residents are in general very opposed to any apartment structure in the area, big or small.

He claims that it will attract "transient" people who not a part of the community.

One resident accused the applicant of only applying for landmark status to "skirt" around the town code in order to build apartments, to which Pace later replied the landmark status was to preserve the kennel and groomers in operation.

Watch the full meeting below: