Community Divided on Mt. Sinai Village Center

On Tuesday, the Brookhaven Town Board voted, 6-1, to accept the Final Environmental Impact Study (FEIS) on the Mt. Sinai Village Center, a project that has the community split.

2nd District Councilwoman Jane Bonner, the only board member to vote against the bill, explained her vote.

"I believe it’s wrong to accept this FEIS before we are done doing the environmental impact with the corridor study, which is a few short months away from being accepted," Bonner said. "The community is very divided."

Developer Paul Elliott agreed to scale down the project in June in order to conform to the Route 25A Corridor Study.

"Given that [scale down] it’s very difficult to say let’s stop this," said 1st District Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld. "There’s no reason why there couldn’t be a supplemental environmental impact statement for this project."

The proposed site for Mt. Sinai Village Centre is just east of the King Kullen shopping center on the south side of Route 25A in Mt. Sinai. The 30-acre property is owned by Soundview Realty. The plan has caused disconnect amongst community members since its inception.

"This is moving forward with the objection of our councilperson who represents our district. I find this offensive," Rocky Point resident Peter Oleschuck said to the board. "I ask you not to bring this forward.... Not the type of jobs we want. We’re tired of retail work. It doesn’t make sense. I don’t want to be a cashier, I don’t want to be a stock boy…you’re not listening to us."

Bruce Madonna of Mt. Sinai was on the opposite end of the spectrum and in full support of the project.

"I support it...why is this becoming a marathon?," he asked the board. "Mt. Sinai is starving for some commercial tax base and the residents want this project to move forward. What’s stopping this project? You are."

Christine Sampson contributed to this story.