Mount Sinai shopping center gets OK

A controversial proposal for an outdoor shopping center in Mount Sinai received a green light at Tuesday's Brookhaven board meeting, where a majority of the panel approved a change of zoning for the 30-acre development on Route 25A.

Councilwoman Jane Bonner, who represents the district and has vociferously opposed the shopping center project, cast the lone vote against the development, citing concerns about excessive retail sites in the area and the environmental impact.

During the meeting, she said the scale of the development would mean vacant stores. "We will in effect be creating blight in the small community of Mount Sinai," she said.

"All the retail needs of the corridor will be sucked into this development. It will serve as a vacuum," Bonner said after the 6-1 vote.

The approval of Soundview Realty's $80-million Mount Sinai Village Centre comes with conditions. For example, the largest store cannot be bigger than 75,000 square feet.

The developer has agreed to donate $810,000 to the Mount Sinai Community Improvement Fund. And at Bonner's request, at least a quarter of the parcel will remain naturally vegetated, and the 228,000-square-foot development near Crystal Brook Hollow Road will have amenities such as a farmer's market, walking trails and a veterans memorial.

Soundview president Paul Elliott said the proposal has gestated for seven years. "We're excited to move forward, including with the councilwoman," he said. The company is talking to major tenants, though he would not reveal specific stores.

He said Soundview officials tried to address community concerns, spending $100,000 on a traffic study of vehicle flow on Route 25A. The development will have "a nice walkable feel" and serve as a "high-end community," Elliott said.

Resident Lynne Edsall remained unconvinced. "The traffic is going to be horrendous," she said after speaking against the development for the Mount Sinai Civic Association. Edsall said she preferred a corporate development that would offer higher-paying jobs, "instead of retail, which doesn't pay much."

Edsall asked why a separate land-use plan for controlling development on the Route 25A corridor that is being drafted was not considered. Some opponents wanted to delay the Soundview project until the corridor plan was finished.

"It complies with the land use plan," said Brookhaven supervisor Mark Lesko, who voted in favor of the development and hailed the tax benefit to the local Mount Sinai school district. "It's going to mean a hamlet center where one doesn't exist."