On Monday, July 1, Rechler Equity Partners submitted their second proposal for the former Island Hills Golf Course in Sayville on Lakeland Avenue.
The new proposal is named “South Bay Village” (previous proposals were named Greybarn, which is also the name of Rechler’s luxury apartment development in Amityville).
The current proposal in comparison to the previous one submitted to the Town of Islip includes:
In a statement, Rechler stated that the new proposal incorporated feedback from residents and stakeholders about an amended proposal.
Community members of various commonalities (e.g., school board members, local business owners, civic associations) gathered during meetings scheduled by the Island Hills Advisory Committee at the True North Church in Bohemia.
The IHAC released a 57-page document on their website in tandem with the press release of the South Bay Village proposal that included minutes of each meeting held with different community groups.
“Rechler Equity prides itself not only on the developments we create, but our long-term commitments to property operations and maintenance,” said Mitchell Rechler, co-managing partner of Rechler Equity. “When we invest in a community; we do so for the long haul, which incentivizes us to create concepts that mesh with the existing fabric of the surrounding community. We believe that this fruitful approach to our outreach process has allowed us to do just that.”
The Greater Sayville Chamber of Commerce, represented by past president, Eileen Tyznar, released a statement in reference to the information about the chamber’s stance in the committee’s summary report: “The Greater Sayville Chamber of Commerce has concerns that were stated at the committee meetings that were felt were not reflected clearly in the report provided by the Rechlers. One main concern that was shared numerous times was the lack of infrastructure to support this project. The chamber representatives numerous times clearly stated major traffic and safety concerns. We also expressed an updated hamlet and updated traffic study needs to be conducted before any applications should even be considered.”
Tyznar said the “sewers, shuttles, and art centers were something that were proposed to all participants at these meetings; however, no in-depth further discussion went past that.”
In a statement from The Greater Sayville Civic Association, Jim Swike said, “Sayville needs to rejuvenate its generational community. We need young families to live here and raise their children and so on and so forth. It’s part of what makes Sayville a great hometown. We’re opposed targeting 55-and-older residents for the majority of the development in the South Bay Village proposal because that is not the need of the community.”
The South Bay Village proposal includes all 314 for-sale homes and 30% of rental homes to be age-restricted.
In a statement, the Bohemia Civic expressed they were “disappointed” in the proposal.
“It is clear that the residents are adamant against a zone change and want single-family homes or green space on that property. The proposed development does not fit the character of the surrounding area, and the ask for single-family homes is not some radical idea. I wish the developer attended a civic meeting to gain insight and perspective on the community’s concerns,” said president of the Bohemia Civic, DawnMarie Kuhn.
The Greater Islip Association members have voiced that they “wholeheartedly reject” the South Bay Village proposal. The group has been the most ardently opposed to a zone change on the Island Hills property.
“It [is] an insult to the community that they call this a compromise. Our stance has been clear from the beginning: green space and single-family homes, just like the surrounding community. After all, that is why the property is zoned AAA residential, yet Rechler continues to throw out arbitrary numbers and pretend like they are doing right by the community,” said Milynn Augulis, president of the GIA.
In response to the community groups’ criticisms, Gregg Rechler, co-managing partner of Rechler Equity said he found the reactions “perplexing.”
“Members of the quoted groups attended meetings with the advisory committee and provided detailed input that is included in the committee’s public report, available at islandhillscommittee.com. Their collective input is largely reflected in the amended plan for the site,” said Rechler.
Among the incorporated changes in the South Bay Village proposal, Rechler cited, “The original plan did not include home ownership, and now 35 percent of the homes are single-family, for-sale homes. In addition, one of the leaders of the Greater Islip Association suggested that she liked the cottage-style design of the homes at Windcrest Cottage in Bohemia, and those cottages became the inspiration for including a cottage-style design at South Bay Village,” said Rechler.
“To say that we did not listen to the community and compromise is simply not true. The amount of units has been reduced from 1,365 to 890. The height of the units are reduced. There are for-sale homes and many of the units are age-restricted. And we went to great lengths to be innovative with respect to traffic management. The community spoke and we listened and compromised. And we are proud to say that we believe that South Bay Village fits the fabric of the Sayville community,” said Rechler.
IHAC members Mary Lou Cohalan, Michael Dawidziak, Timothy Dolan, Justin Jaycon, and Frederick Welge, said in a joint statement, “We believe the committee’s report accurately and with as much completeness as possible, reports the feedback we received: both good and bad. Concerns about home ownership, infrastructure, traffic, the environment and increased school student populations were all included in the report in detail. We would respectfully suggest that people not take our word for this nor accept the criticisms of others. Rather, we recommend that everybody make up their own minds.”
“We are expecting all required and amended documents to be submitted for the SEQR process and change of zone process in the near future,” said a representative for the town.
Upon receiving all documents, the town said they would schedule a public hearing.
The IHAC report utilized for the South Bay Village Village can be found at www.islandhillscommittee.com.
Additional specifications of the new Island Hills plan can be found at www.southbayvillage.com.
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