Ambulance center use variance

The owner of Riverhead Motors across the street said Stony Brook's presentation eased his traffic fears but questioned why the ambulances can't be stationed in Greenport and Southampton, and whether patients would really be taken to the closest appropriate hospital.

Peconic Bay's president argued a mobile stroke unit a few hundred yards from her hospital — which opens a thrombectomy program within weeks — is wasteful and could delay care, and noted Stony Brook does not share imaging or data with her hospital.

The Northwell stroke physician said Stony Brook historically bypasses other thrombectomy centers — citing his South Shore experience — and predicted patients here would be taken 40 minutes to Stony Brook instead of Peconic Bay.

The former Peconic Bay president and comprehensive plan volunteer said this is a zoning question, not a medical one — the site is wrong, the rear drive lanes are a hazard, and the town's own ambulance corps says Route 58 access is too congested.

Peconic Bay's chief medical officer argued that waiting for the mobile stroke unit to arrive and scan in a driveway delays care versus driving straight to the hospital.

A nearby resident said she's not against ambulance barns but wants them in properly zoned spots, warned about traffic at the already-congested shopping centers, and submitted a petition with more than 100 opposing signatures.

A Calverton resident called the project a duplication of the local volunteer ambulance squad and new stroke center, raised safety concerns about elderly shoppers and blind rear drive lanes, and asked the board to table or deny.