Mastic Beach residents said they see a brighter future for their former village as they discussed a $500 million downtown redevelopment plan during a Brookhaven Town public hearing last week.
But the 3½-hour hearing Thursday night at Brookhaven Town Hall in Farmingville also brought out residents’ deepest worries, including what they described as rampant drug use, prostitution and overcrowded housing that some fear could undermine the effort.
The town is proposing to rezone about 37 acres and 140 parcels in a triangle-shaped section of Mastic Beach’s blighted Neighborhood Road business district. Rezoning the area would pave the way for up to 630 new homes, including apartments and town houses, and a total of 130,000 square feet of retail space. Plans also include new sewers and storm drains, and underground electrical service to replace overhead power lines, officials said.
The town in 2023 hired Jericho-based Beechwood Organization to serve as the project’s master developer.
Town and Beechwood officials said construction could start next year.
Most on hand in support
Almost all of the 20 people who spoke at Thursday’s hearing expressed some degree of support for the plan, saying the hamlet’s downtown — a mix of downtrodden buildings and vacant properties — needed a major face-lift.
“I think this is a wonderful project,” said Robert Miller, the last mayor of the disbanded village of Mastic Beach. The village folded in 2017 after years of political and financial turmoil.
Few speakers expressed outright opposition to the project. But even some who supported the plan tempered their comments with concerns about what they said was a declining quality of life in the South Shore hamlet.
“It has evolved into something we’re not proud of,” said Joseph Ferraro, citing drug use and prostitution.
“That’s not something that’s going to attract new people,” he told town board members. “Something’s going to have to be done there.”
Other speakers, including project supporters, said the new homes and businesses could generate more traffic than the hamlet’s narrow roads can handle.
Several residents and town board members excoriated a traffic study prepared by Melville-based consultants Nelson Pope Voorhis. Some said the study, which had sought to estimate traffic volumes under several different potential development scenarios, was confusing.
“They just threw up a couple of bar graphs that make no sense,” Mastic Beach resident Zachary Coban said.
Nelson Pope Voorhis officials later told the town board they would revise the study.
The plan’s few opponents cited traffic concerns and said the proposal called for too many homes.
“This is way over the top,” said Joe May of the Mastic Park Civic Association.
Some speakers, including residents and business owners, said they were afraid they would be forced to leave their homes or close their businesses.
Civic leader weighs in
Beechwood has purchased roughly half the 140 properties it needs for the project, a spokesperson said. Brookhaven Councilwoman Karen Dunne Kesnig said some properties may be acquired by the town through condemnation.
One woman vowed to the board that she wouldn’t be forced out.
But another civic leader, Frank Fugarino of the Pattersquash Creek Civic Association, said the vast majority of the group’s 110 members supported the plan.
Fugarino said the board should ensure displaced businesses are relocated nearby. He said the proposal is Mastic Beach’s best hope for revitalization.
“Those that think they have a better mousetrap, they only delay progress,” Fugarino said. “We should be pulling together.”
The town board plans to vote on an environmental study later this year, Supervisor Dan Panico said. The town is accepting written comments through Sept. 29. Comments may be emailed to seqra@brookhavenny.gov.