Creating Mixed Use Projects

Middle Country Road Land-Use Plan
Coram & Middle Island
Town of Brookhaven
2006

The Town of Brookhaven is being celebrated for a progressive land use plan that seeks to curb suburban sprawl by focusing development on the creation of new downtown centers. This is the second such plan on Long Island. The first was the Montauk Highway Plan in Mastic-Shirley, which received an award in 2003.

Middle Country Road (NYS Rte 25) runs 17 miles through the center of the Town of Brookhaven, extending from the Village of Lake Grove east to the Town of Riverhead. This major corridor epitomizes sprawl, featuring the chaotic pattern of strip commercial development found in many communities throughout Long Island. Zoning codes and regulations have long encouraged this type of development, resulting in a lack of identity for individual hamlets, problems with traffic congestion, and traffic safety concerns for all users including pedestrians and bicyclists.

In response to a road widening planned by NYSDOT , civic leaders held a community planning charrette to create an alternative vision for the corridor and its adjacent lands in the hamlets of Coram and Middle Island. This vision was strongly embraced by the community, which commenced a vigorous effort to lobby for its implementation.

Spearheading the effort was Connie Kepert, who was then President of the Longwood Alliance and member of the Middle Country Road Renaissance Project. Special credit is also given to Brenda Prusinowski, Deputy Commissioner of the Town of Brookhaven, for her efforts to guide the vision toward implementation.

In July of 2003 a development oratorium was enacted allowing planners to formulate a land use plan that balanced this vision with the Transportation Improvement Project proposed for this region by NYSDOT. In April 2006, the final land use plan was approved.

Thanks to the community’s constructive perseverance, the Department of Transportation has backed down from their road-widening proposal to allow more community-friendly alternatives. In Middle Island, several proposals are now in place. Highlights include a 200-unit mixed-use development that includes a community center, a pocket park and other amenities.

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Fostering Clean Energy & Green Building Development

East Setauket Firehouse
East Setauket
Peter Caradonna, Architect
2005

Architect Peter Caradonna is being honored for his design of the Setauket Firehouse. Designed in three parts -- firehouse proper, district fire offices and a connecting greenhouse -- the structure is a unique combination of new technology, thoughtful design, and classic character. Unlike most modern buildings, it will even be built to last 100 years. It’s plans are certified under the US Green Building Council’s LEED Green Building Rating System.

Sited on the historic crossroads of the community, the firehouse has been specifically designed to reflect the beauty and historic character of East Setauket. However, form will by no means overtake innovative function. While its facade and two-over-two windows will look old, the building will be made of a precast concrete panel with brick set in it for thermal mass and ease of erection. The roof may appear as slate, but it will actually be composed of recycled rubber.

It’s orientation and double gables will not only mimic the look of the traditional buildings once located on the site, they will also provide its photovoltaic installations the greatest exposure to the sun.

The building itself has been oriented specfically to allow for natural lighting and both passive and active solar energy. The typology of the firehouse and historic hose tower will be adapted to provide passive ventilation for the Apparatus Room. The greenhouse, designed to reflect the region’s agricultural heritage, will serve as a solar furnace, energy from which will be drawn off to serve other areas of the building. The district offices -- which would generally require the most intensive energy use -- are cleverly situated in a berm, reducing that part of the building’s exposure to extreme temperatures. Open design throughout the structure provides for substantial daylighting, reducing significantly the need for electric lighting.

Measures are being taken not only to reflect the community’s historic character, but to also serve as a civic place. The meeting room is designed for public access from the open plaza at the street corner. An inviting Memorial Square and public park will be part of the design. Double rows of trees will serve the dual function of buffering nearby resident’s exposure to the commercial area, while also reducing the building’s exposure to the elements.

This is the first honoree in the category of Green Building and Clean Energy. We hope that the Smart Growth movement and the projects represented by advocates for Green Building and Clean Energy will yield more such high-quality projects.

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Parisi and Son Construction is working on a mixed use retail and office project on two parcels totalling 7.5 acres on the intersection of William Floyd Parkway and Montauk Highway. The design is a New England style featuring brick paving and streetlights with parking in the rear. The buildings will be a mix of brick and shingle construction.

To their credit Parisi and Son changed their approach of the retail center towards a mixed use office and retail center including a bank, resturant, retail and office use. Originally a conventional big box shopping center was proposed.

In early February 2002, the Mastic, Mastic Beach and Shirley community took part in a series of workshops that included a walking tour of Montauk Highway and interactive workshops where residents created a blueprint of their vision of the Montauk Highway of the future. Several hundred residents, community leaders and local business owners came together for the event. The vision resulted in three distinct nodes for redevelopment. Emergency personnel expressed need for coastal evacuation routes, business owners expressed the need for a sewer district. Brookhaven Town began work on the new building codes and began a building moratorium along Montauk Highway. The Town granted waivers to four applicants whose vision reflects that of the community.

Parisi and Son participated in the Vision and Floyd Harbor was the first major project to result in public consensus. The Town awarded conditional site plan approval for the development in August of 2003 and Parisi is in the process of obtaining final building permits.

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464 Main St. & Barnum Ave., Port Jefferson, N.Y. -- The challenge on this prime corner in Port Jefferson Village was to revitalize the site of a dilapidated, vacant automobile dealership. The architect, Mr. Eric Nicosia, and the developer, Mr. Anthony Gitto, a principal of Barnum Equities, L.L.C., worked with feedback from Village planning officials to create a viable, attractive, and zoning-compliant Mixed-Use facility.

The site consists of two large and one small adjacent parcels totaling 2.2 acres, the two large pieces being zoned C-1 commercial. Instead of placing a single story commercial building on each large parcel, the focus was to concentrate development on the corner closer to other existing commercial uses. The corner building serves as an anchor entering lower Port Jefferson, while preserving open site lines closer to residential uses.

Utilizing the Village’s mixed-use development zoning provisions, several designs and configurations were reviewed. The result is a 95% occupied 52,000 square foot, mixed-use, three-story building. Lower level retail space runs along commercial Main Street while entrance to the apartments, known as Barnum House, is on the residential Barnum Avenue side.

The upper two floors consist of 30 spacious one- and two-bedroom apartments, some with roof terraces. All have luxury appointments including the entrance and common areas. Reserved parking for residents is provided on the building parcel and the smaller adjacent parcel.

The old automobile dealership lot has been redeveloped as the main parking area for retail users. Extensive building, street and island landscaping has created a “greenbelt” area that did not exist before. As a bonus, the developers and the Village negotiated an agreement allowing use of the large lot for general village parking.

Apartments over retail utilizing community input on design features cover a number of principles of Smart Growth. This project is an example of a forward thinking developer and Village officials working together to produce compact building design.

The Montauk Highway Committee, a project of the William Floyd Community Summit, is a group of local citizens working to solve the multifaceted problems that exist along the Montauk Highway Business Corridor.

The Mastic Shirley Chamber of Commerce and the William Floyd Community Summit joined forces to remedy issues which affect both business owners and residents. Through this joint effort the Montauk Highway Committee emerged.

The Montauk Highway Project’s mission is to encourage development that reduces sprawl and contributes to the long-term economic vitality of the community by:

• Encouraging comprehensive land use planning that is consistent with the needs of the community, adjacent communities and the region as a whole.
• Encouraging land use that links these key issues: economic development,environmental and quality of life.
• Encouraging compact development that is pedestrian friendly, reduces automobile dependency and is focused around existing or newly designed community centers.

In early February 2002, the Mastic, Mastic Beach and Shirley community took part in a series of workshops that included a walking tour of Montauk Highway and interactive workshops where residents created a blueprint of their vision of the Montauk Highway of the future. Several hundred residents, community leaders and local business owners came together for the event.

The vision resulted in three distinct nodes for redevelopment. Emergency personnel expressed need for coastal evacuation routes, business owners expressed the need for a sewer district. Brookhaven Town began work on the new building codes and began a building moratorium along Montauk Highway. The Town granted waivers to four applicants whose vision reflects that of the community. Additional issues the Committee is addressing include: unsightly utility lines, north/south arterial roadways, Sunrise Highway on/off ramps, Sunrise Highway N/S Service Road, and creation of needed infrastructure.

The William Floyd Community Summit and the Montauk Highway Project have stayed active in pursuing its vision and have taken a leadership role in pulling all segments of the community together. This type of proactive community leadership can serve as a model for all of Long Island.