Eastport Dunkin' Donuts Losing Business Over Property Dispute

Two neighboring Eastport property owners—one owns the Dunkin’ Donuts property on Eastport Manor Road, and the other owns the vacant lot surrounding it—have gone to court to determine who owns a strip of land between them that is currently being used by the donut chain as part of its parking lot.

Both owners claim rights to the piece of land—and now there’s a fence down the middle of the lot, which is affecting business and upsetting customers.

Minas Michaelian, who owns the surrounding lot through CMWV LLC, put up a chain-link fence on November 28 to box in Dunkin’ Donuts and prevent its customers from using parking spaces in the front and back of the store that he claims are on his property.

Now, there are only two usable parking spots in the front of the building, including a handicap spot, and four narrow spaces in the back. When cars try to leave the parking lot, there is very little room to turn around.

“It’s my property. The survey shows that. I pay the full taxes for that property,” Mr. Michaelian said. “He has 40 feet by 200 feet in his property. Period. End of story.”

Ben Bathija owns both the Dunkin’ Donuts and its property through Eastport Donut Group and Eastport Realty, respectively. His attorney, Louis Algios, said that business has already dropped 30 percent since the fence was installed.

“There’s safety concerns. People are saying that they’re not going to go there because it’s too hard to maneuver in and out of that parking lot,” Mr. Algios said. His partner, attorney Neil Miller, chimed in, “And when we got delivery trucks delivering in the front, you can’t even get in the parking lot.”

The case is being heard in State Supreme Court to determine who has the right to that property. Mr. Algios is claiming that the fence installation was illegal and is asking the court to order the removal of the fence.

Mr. Bathija bought the property in 2013, when it was a Subway restaurant. Mr. Michaelian said he was aware at that point that Mr. Bathija was cutting into his property with a few existing parking spaces, but did not think it was worth doing anything about.

But in the spring of 2017, according to his attorney, Mr. Bathija resurfaced the existing parking lot area with new asphalt and removed some vegetation, prior to opening Dunkin’ Donuts in June of that year.

Mr. Michaelian is accusing Mr. Bathija of expanding the parking lot during the resurfacing process and clearing trees that were on his property. He said he tried to speak to Mr. Bathija about the situation but never received a phone call back. So he hired a lawyer in 2017 and filed a lawsuit.

“My lawyer sent a letter to him, and that’s when he called me and asked to speak,” said Mr. Michaelian, a North Fork resident who has owned the vacant lot since 2005. “I told him, ‘At this time, I can’t talk to you.’”

“Our client and their predecessors have been using that piece that has now been fenced off for 50-plus years,” Mr. Algios said.

Mr. Miller added, “Thirty years in the parking lot, at least, and over 50 years on the road to the back, where the garbage trucks need to go.”

Because of the fence, the driveway to get to the rear parking spaces is now tighter. Arrows are painted on the asphalt pointing in both directions, but only one car can fit at a time.

The shop’s dumpster is located in the back, and the manager, Mihir Patel, said that the garbage truck is unable to turn around due to the lack of space and is forced to reverse back down the driveway to exit, backing onto Montauk Highway in the process. The attorney said the garbage company is “bitterly complaining” and may cease its services until the situation is resolved.

Gary Moller, 65, a longtime resident of East Moriches, is a frequent customer at the Dunkin’ Donuts. But since the fence was installed, he said he comes by significantly less often.

“I was here the day the fence got put up,” he explained. “I came with my wife and said, ‘What the heck is going on?’”

Mr. Moller said he worries that the lack of room for cars to maneuver the parking lot will cause accidents. “My concern is, how do I back out of here and not back out onto Montauk Highway?” he asked, pointing to the heavily trafficked road from the lot. “It’s so busy here in the morning. It’s a nightmare.”

Mr. Michaelian said he is currently exploring development options for his vacant property. He owns two adjacent undeveloped lots totaling 14 acres on both sides of Seatuck Avenue just north of Montauk Highway.

He recently met with the East Moriches Property Owners Association to seek input from residents on what type of development should go on those two lots. The association sent out a survey to Eastport residents on October 29 and shared its results on November 25—out of the 76 respondents, most were in favor of either leaving the site as is or having the town or county purchase it.

In 2011, the Brookhaven Town Board denied a zoning change request for the property, which would have permitted a 75,000-square-foot commercial and office complex to be built. Since then, Mr. Michaelian has not pursued other developments.