Mount Sinai mall plan comes under scrutiny

Just days after Brookhaven Town officials released a study of the future of the Route 25A corridor that recommends avoiding strip mall-type developments, a proposed 30-acre outdoor mall along the same road in Mount Sinai comes up for public hearing Tuesday.

And some town officials don't sound enamored of the plan.

The proposed Mount Sinai Village Centre features a 209,000-square-foot development with a New England-style clock tower, village green and retail, restaurant and office space.

The site, next to King Kullen near Crystal Brook Hollow Road, is vacant.

The public hearing at Town Hall is set for developer Soundview Realty's application for a change of zoning.

To judge by some Brookhaven officials' comments, the development does not mesh with the town's vision for Route 25A.

"This application does not adhere to that plan," Brookhaven planning commissioner Tullio Bertolli said at a town board work session Thursday.

"There's been several issues with this plan all along," said Councilwoman Jane Bonner, who represents Mount Sinai.

If the Mount Sinai Village Centre is built, she said, "the rest of the corridor will become a ghost town."

But Councilman Tim Mazzei pointed out that the study's final draft came out last week, before the developer could fully implement its recommendations.

The Route 25A study began in fall 2009 and will ultimately become the land-use plan for the communities lining the corridor. It focuses on maintaining a small-town feel while minimizing traffic and encouraging low-density development.

In a draft released June 1, the study said that Mount Sinai needed cohesive planning. "The hamlet center is not pedestrian friendly and lacks architectural consistency, landscaping, and a central unifying feature," the study noted.

Paul Elliott, president and chief executive of Soundview, said he's confident the development meets most of the plan's goals.

"The project really fits well into that corridor study, so we have really conformed to 95 percent of what the corridor study has concluded," he said. "In several areas they mentioned the rezoning that we're doing in a very positive way."

"Are there little tweakings to do? I'm sure there are," Elliott said. "But we've met the overall principles of the North Shore corridor study."