Board vote set on Mount Sinai mall plan

Brookhaven's town board is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a proposed 30-acre outdoor mall in Mount Sinai, but the councilwoman who represents the area does not support the project.

The proposed $80-million Mount Sinai Village Centre would be a 228,000-square-foot development with a clock tower, village green, and retail and office space near Crystal Brook Hollow Road. The developer, Soundview Realty of Medford, has said the project would provide a central public space that Mount Sinai lacks.

But Jane Bonner, the councilwoman who represents the Mount Sinai area, has reservations about the plan.

Speaking after the project was briefly discussed Thursday at a town board work session, Bonner said the public amenities Soundview has proposed -- including a seasonal covered farmers market and an educational kiosk -- are not enough to justify approval. The project could snarl traffic and hurt local businesses, Bonner and some local residents have said.

"The public doesn't benefit at all by this development; the developer benefits," Bonner said. "It's important that the community benefits from a development that changes its character."

Paul Elliott, president of Soundview, did not return calls seeking comment. He has said the project will "create a village center that the Mount Sinai area just doesn't have."

Sentiment about the project among other town board members is mixed. Councilman Daniel Panico said the project would generate tax revenue for the town and the local school district, but added that "traffic in that area is already problematic."

Supervisor Mark Lesko has said Soundview appears "willing to accommodate everyone's concerns" about the project, which is slated to include a brand-name anchor store of 75,000 square feet. About a quarter of the site could be preserved, town officials said.

The meeting during which the board could vote on the project is set to begin at 5 p.m. Tuesday at town hall, 1 Independence Hill in Farmingville.