The Town of Babylon Planning Board on Tuesday held a public hearing on a site-plan and special-exception application to demolish two structures on the west side of Route 110 (lots 13.1 and 14.2, between Great Neck Road and the Southern State Parkway) and construct an 1,800-square-foot, one-story restaurant with a seven-car drive-through queue and 30 indoor and six outdoor seats.

Applicant representatives — Lisonbee Lapointe, Sir Tillman Bell and Adler Hyman — told the board they delivered an affidavit of posting on Dec. 23, 2025, and that a traffic and parking impact analysis by TBD Inc (dated Aug. 13, 2025) is part of the record. "This will house the very first Caribou Coffee in the Northeast," an applicant representative said, and requested site-plan approval and a special-exception finding; they also said the client has reviewed and accepts the draft conditions and covenants in the staff memorandum dated Dec. 29, 2025.

The applicant described site design measures intended to limit impacts on nearby homes to the west, including screening plantings (a 5–10-foot buffer), a six-foot privacy fence at the rear of the property and four-sided architectural treatment. The proposed building would measure about 20 feet to the parapet, and vehicular access would be limited to one right-in, one right-out onto Route 110.

Because one of the two lots is not currently zoned E-business, the applicant said it will seek a change of zone from the town board and subsequently request variance relief from the BZA. The variances cited by the applicant are a 3.5-foot front-yard setback to the canopy (to the front property line), a rear-yard variance (providing 43 feet 7 inches where 50 feet are required) and a parking variance (15 spaces proposed where 21 are required).

Board members asked a range of operational and safety questions. When asked to confirm parking counts, the applicant said the plan provides 15 stalls and that 21 are required. Asked about hours of operation and staffing, applicant representatives said hours had not been set and staffing plans were not finalized; they declined to place hours of operation on the record. On queue length, the applicant said the seven-car queue was expected to be sufficient based on the traffic study and internal analysis but did not provide average queue dwell times.

A member of the board raised pedestrian-safety concerns about five parking spaces on the southern side of the site that would require patrons to walk along a sidewalk; the board member noted winter snow could create hazards. The applicant said maintaining safe, passable sidewalks would be part of operating the site.

A question about environmental testing followed: the board noted Town DEC boring logs dated Aug. 24, 2025, which reported a petroleum odor at 22–24 feet. The applicant said its engineering team contacted Whitestone, which "indicated that there was no visible, evidence of spillage in the boring itself, and therefore, we put forth that no further exploration is necessary at this time." The board did not request additional testing during the hearing.

No members of the public addressed the board during the hearing. Planning Board member Julianne Nolan moved to close the public hearing and reserve decision; Juan Leon seconded. The chair called the question and a board member voted "Aye." The chair said the record will remain open for written comments and provided the Planning Department phone number (631-957-3103) and email (planningcomments@townofbabylonny.gov) to submit materials; application documents are available for inspection in the Planning Department between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Next steps described by the applicant include seeking a change of zone from the town board and variance relief from the BZA; the Planning Board will review any follow-up materials and written comments before making a decision.