Tag: vision long island

Some 250 people packed Brookhaven Town Hall Thursday evening where a public hearing for an ambitious plan to redevelop about 40 acres in Mastic Beach drew mostly support. 

The $500 million Neighborhood Road Revitalization project is helmed by Jericho-based Beechwood Organization, which was designated as master developer for the plan by the Town of Brookhaven in Oct. 2021. The proposed redevelopment, which covers most of Neighborhood Road and Commack Road between Maywood Road and Doris Drive, would create a mixed-use downtown area with up to 630 housing units, 133,600 square feet of commercial space, and 34,000 square feet of community/civic space, in which the existing library and ambulance company would remain. 

Questions and comments from speakers at the hearing focused on traffic concerns and help for existing businesses.

“This is exactly the kind of dialogue we need,” Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico said in a town statement. “Hearing directly from residents helps us build a plan that reflects the real needs of the neighborhood.”  

The town conducted a blight study of 140 parcels along Neighborhood Road and surrounding streets in 2019, which confirmed that the area had enough blight, code violations and obstacles that have deterred meaningful private investment in the area. In Nov. 2022, the town unveiled a proposed master plan that aimed to transform the area into a walkable and vibrant downtown, with new housing, retail shops, restaurants, services and public gathering spaces. 

Eric Alexander, director of Vision Long Island, which has worked on two previous plans for the Mastic Beach area, said he is happy to see this project move forward. 

“Great to see robust turnout for the Mastic Beach revitalization plan. Community and business leaders have been working for decades to see the type of public and private investment the redevelopment will bring,” Alexander told LIBN. “The development team and town officials spent time through this process answering questions and adapting the plan to meet local needs. This community has been waiting a long time for this type of investment, and they are very deserving.” 

According to the project’s draft environmental impact statement, the plan creates six subdistricts, including a Neighborhood Subdistrict that would allow townhomes; a Main Street Subdistrict for mixed-use buildings with ground-floor commercial/retail space and second-floor residential and/or commercial space; a Gateway Mixed-Use Subdistrict for mixed-use and multifamily buildings up to 35 feet high; a Downtown Mixed-Use Subdistrict that would allow multifamily residential buildings up to 50 feet high with commercial uses on the ground floor; a Civic Subdistrict for cultural uses, community spaces, educational facilities, and emergency service facilities; and a Parks Subdistrict for open, outdoor, active and passive public space. 

The plan projects a significant increase in property tax revenue, rising from the current tax revenue of just over $800,000 per year to more than $5.7 million annually, of which more than $3.4 million would go to the William Floyd School District, according to the DGEIS. 

Following construction, the redevelopment is expected to create 680 jobs in the redevelopment area, with an indirect and induced impact of nearly 250 jobs, bringing the total employment impact to 928 total jobs during annual operations.   

Beechwood will need some time to assemble the 143 parcels in the redevelopment area, so construction on the project isn’t expected to begin 2027. The total redevelopment is projected to take four years to complete.

Public comments on the project are still being accepted by the town until Sept. 29.