Suffolk to release details of ambitious Yaphank development that backers promote as 'smart growth'
Source: newsday.com, by DANIEL WAGNER
January 15, 2007
If Suffolk County and Brookhaven Town officials get their way, a huge tract of sparsely developed county land will finally live up to the title it was granted in 1973: Yaphank County Center.
Today, after two years of outreach and debate, Suffolk County is releasing a plan to develop 235 of those acres, south of Exit 67 of the Long Island Expressway.
The area now known as the development site will include an 8,000-seat arena, 1,000 units of housing, an indoor motorsports facility, landscaped parkland, pedestrian-friendly streets and a high-tech industrial park, according to a draft of Suffolk's request for proposals obtained by Newsday. The final version of the document will be available to developers and the public starting today.
"For the last 10 years, this property has been in limbo," said County Executive Steve Levy. "There have been trial balloons that were floated, and ... these trial balloons became lead balloons."
Result of rapid growth
Suffolk acquired most of the 880-acre parcel in the early 1970s, when the expectation of rapid population growth inspired officials to amass space for county facilities equidistant to its offices in Riverhead and Hauppauge. Town officials implemented periodic building moratoriums, and piecemeal development led to a police headquarters here, a Department of Public Works there, but nothing like the imposing outpost planners had envisioned.
But now that the county, in consultation with town officials, has put together a plan for the site, the area is poised to emerge as a destination primarily for mid-Suffolk and East End residents and a model for "smart growth" development, emphasizing walkability, design and mixed-use buildings.
But that's if all goes according to plan, said Desmond Ryan, executive director of the Association for a Better Long Island, and "any development project on Long Island is not an easy thing to have happen."
"It's not only a public-private partnership between the county and the development team, it's also a partnership with the municipality," said Ryan, a lobbyist for area developers. In other words, in addition to the county's agreeing with the chosen development team on a sale price, the developer will have to gain zoning and other approvals from the town consistent with the county's vision.
Brookhaven Councilman Timothy Mazzei, a Republican, agreed, saying, "At the end of the day, the town board is out front" on the final decision.
Land divided in four parts
Under the proposal, the developable land will be divided into four major sections. The first, east of Yaphank Avenue between the LIE and the Yaphank train station, will include the arena - officials have discussed luring a minor-league hockey team, and Dowling College may use the site for a future Division I hockey program - next to at least one ice-skating rink and some mixed-use residential and commercial development.
The second section, west of Yaphank Avenue and south of the railroad, will feature about 1,000 units of housing at below-market rates.
The plan emphasizes that the housing should be a mixture of rental and for-sale properties, duplexes and apartments, but should not include one-family detached homes of the type that have characterized the area. It also encourages a small amount of walkable commercial development.
Below the housing section would lie 60 acres of recreational space, some of it commercial - county officials advocate an indoor motorsports facility - but much of it devoted to parkland and ballfields.
Finally, farther south, bordering on the north side of Horse Block Road, the draft calls for a 46-acre industrial park focused on alternative-energy and high-tech developments, with an assist from institutes at Stony Brook University. This is the only part of the development that will not require rezoning.
Levy emphasized that collaboration among county and town officials would make it easier to clear hurdles that have stymied development proposals in the area - a fact Ryan called "encouraging."
Zoning requirements
The county's plan aims to avoid such obstacles by making sale of land to a developer contingent on zoning approval and requiring analyses of school district and municipal impact.
Brookhaven Councilwoman Connie Kepert, who sat on the committee that developed the document, said she thought the community outreach element of the process could have been stronger, especially in one area sure to be controversial: The industrial park and commercial recreation parcels lie in the South Country Central School District, while all 1,000 units of affordable housing are just above the border with the Longwood Central School District.
"It was our understanding that not all of the housing would be located within the Longwood School District," Longwood board president Daniel Tomas- zewski said through a spokeswoman. "... Obviously, 1,000 housing units will have a tremendous impact on our school facilities and taxpayers." A representative of the South Country district declined to comment because she had not received a final version of the document.
The county maintains that attached housing is "tax-positive" for school districts "90 percent of the time."
Kepert, a Democrat, expects to remain involved in the process as the county reviews and selects proposals and then delivers them to the Town Board.
Expansive project
The land set aside for development in the proposed Yaphank County Center would be divided into four major sections.
An arena, at least one ice-skating rink and mixed-use residential and commercial development.
About 1,000 units of housing at below-markets rates and possibly some walkable commercial development.
60 acres of recreational space, some of it commercial (possibly including an indoor motorsports facility) but much of it devoted to parkland and ballfields.
46-acre industrial park focused on alternative-energy and high-tech developments.
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