Sayville Chamber Ignites Legal Fight Against Islip Pines

The Greater Sayville Chamber of Commerce is launching a three-pronged strategy to fight the proposed Islip Pines mixed-use development in Holbrook with business group officials saying it would greatly hurt downtown businesses.

It’s lobbying elected officials to oppose the project, shoring up supporters to speak at a county planning board meeting this week and collecting money to launch a legal battle to stop the project.

The business group is urging store owners to call elected officials Tuesday and Wednesday in light of the Suffolk County Planning Commission’s review of the project set for Wednesday at 1 p.m. 

It’s also asking store owners to attend the commission’s meeting, scheduled to be held at the Maxine S. Postal Auditorium in the Riverhead County Center. The county does not have to hold a public hearing on the project before rendering a decision.

In an email to members, Sayville Chamber President Bill Etts urged business owners to voice protest against the plan by calling Suffolk County Legislators Robert Calarco and Bill Lindsay, Suffolk County Planning Commissioner Sarah Lansdale and even Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.

“Let them know they haven’t caught us asleep. We need to protest.. voice your opposition to the project,” wrote Etts in the email.

In a previous email sent to members Etts noted that the project aims to create a mall “that will destroy retail and change the traffic pattern of how people shop."

“We will suffer the same devastating effects as Bay Shore and Smithtown. It took both towns over 25 years to recover,” he wrote, relating that the chamber board has approved allocating $2,000 to retain a lawyer to stop the project.

The Sayville group is reaching out to nearby chambers, including the Holbrook Chamber and Bayport-Blue Point and Patchogue Chambers to donate the same amount.

The Sayville business group has already retained Mike Dawidziak, president of Strategic Planning Systems, to help as a lobbyist and marketing leader. According to Etts, Dawidziak’s services are being paid by a group that wishes to remain anonymous.

Islip Town recently approved an environmental impact statement for the 136-acre project, bordering Sunrise Highway at the intersection of Veterans Highway in Holbrook. The EIS is a technical step of the State Environmental Quality Review Act process and town planning officials stated it was just an early basic step. Following the county planning commission review the Islip Town Planning Department will issue a recommendation to the town board.

It’s been over a year since Islip officials held a public hearing on the Serota Properties project, and much of the project has changed from its initial proposal. 

The revamp was in response to civic and local chamber concerns regarding impact on traffic, the small downtown business areas and the Sachem school district.     

Original plans called for 400,000 square feet of retail space for tenants such as Anne Klein, 1.3 million square feet of industrial space on 70 acres, which would include a 200-room hotel, and 250 residential one and two-bedroom apartments on 13 acres. 

The revamp includes a huge boost in open space mostly due to structured garage parking instead of acres of paved lots. There will be a central mall structure with open grass, a decorative pond and a band shell for community events.  The original design had a four and half acre park area. Now there are 35 acres of open space that can house 12 active ball fields
 
Yet the proposed retail use does not sit well with Sayville’s chamber as it only reduced retail land use by 80,000 square feet.   
 
The plan originally called for 250 one-to two-bedroom units for senior citizen housing. It now includes 350 units.   

Etts told Patch in a phone interview last week that the chamber wants more residential and less retail space and that the retail use should be restricted to typical small businesses such as a deli, pizza and dry cleaner.

“That will help sustain the residential segment while not hurting our downtown. But they want to create a mall and that will suck the business out of Sayville and other local downtowns,” said Etts. “We’ve already got a Target coming in,” he said.