From blight to light: The town of Brookhaven has launched a partnership focused on redevelopment

Brookhaven is the largest town in Suffolk County and one of the largest in the state. In fact, the entire land area of Nassau County can fit inside Brookhaven. Brookhaven is home to almost 500,000 people and as our population exploded from the 1950s onward, single family tract housing developments and strip malls sprawled away from existing downtowns and transportation hubs toward cheap, undeveloped land. Fifty years later we are left with the corrosive effects of unrestrained growth, and at times, poor planning and zoning decisions. We have acknowledged that the unthinkable has happened-Suburban blight exists and is threatening the quality of life we cherish. Examples of suburban "monuments to blight" are everywhere, from empty and decaying movie theaters, to vacant shopping centers and abandoned big box stores. We all know which properties are blighted and, every time we pass them, we collectively cringe and wonder why nothing has been done to redevelop them. The town of Brookhaven has launched an unconventional approach to redevelopment-one of partnership with the private sector focusing on redeveloping suburbia and turning "blight into light." We view blighted properties as miraculous opportunities to retrofit suburbia for the next generation. In the coming months, we will adopt groundbreaking changes to our code that we hope will be a model for other suburban communities looking to focus private sector interest to redevelopment of blighted properties. The new blight code will provide attractive incentive packages for private sector redevelopment of blighted parcels in the town, which will cut bureaucratic red tape and ultimately save time, money, and give the developer more flexibility with the property. The way the blight code works is simple-a project proposal receives points in three separate categories-the severity of blight, the location of the property, and the redevelopment potential of the property, which is dependent on a developer's proposal. The points can add up to one of four incentive packages: Bright, Illuminated, Radiant, or Brilliant. The more points the redevelopment project racks up, the more incentives the developer receives. Saving suburbia from blight shouldn't be impossible. It can be as simple as retrofitting those seas of asphalt and concrete, those decaying downtowns, and those underutilized transit hubs that abound throughout Long Island. Decaying suburban wastelands provide fertile ground for exciting mixed use developments, inexpensive homes for our young people and empty-nesters, and fun recreational destination points filled with restaurants, shops, and theaters. The new blight code will make it worthwhile for the private sector to undertake these types of projects. To date, our partnerships have proven fruitful-some of our targeted "monuments to blight" are in the redevelopment process. These locations provide limitless potential for redevelopment, and working with the private sector we will turn blight into light. The town will be holding a public hearing for a change of zone on the former K-Mart property in Middle Island. This redevelopment, officially known as "Artist's Lake Plaza," will transform a blighted parcel into a vibrant community destination with restaurants, shopping, and numerous recreational amenities. The owners of property are Breslin Realty Associates LLC, Colin Realty Co., LLC, and Poly Jaz Realty LLC. Some of the sites the Town is targeting for redevelopment includes the vacant Bellport Outlets, the Plaza Theater in Patchogue, and the old Brookhaven Cinema site in Medford. For more information on "Blight to Light," contact Stacey Epifane Sikes, deputy chief of staff at (631) 451-2446 or [email protected], or Jim Morgo, economic development coordinator, at (631) 451-6437 or [email protected]. Watch the Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency "Blight to Light" video at www.brookhaven.org. Mark Lesko is the Brookhaven, N.Y. town supervisor.