Opinions differ on development of old Kmart site

Environmentalists, civic leaders and Brookhaven officials sparred last night over a developer's pitch to rebuild the shuttered Middle Island Kmart, one of the largest blighted sites in Suffolk County, as a pedestrian shopping village.

The developer, Breslin Realty of Garden City, and town officials touted the project as a chance to bring more than 400 jobs and $9 million in sales tax revenue to a site that is now a blighted big-box store. Breslin's project, Artist's Lake Plaza, would include two large stores, seven retail shops and 25 acres of athletic fields.

Several environmentalists, including Pine Barrens Society executive director Richard Amper, said the project is dangerously close to the Carmans River and its headwaters.

Other residents were divided by the project. Some, including Tom Talbot of Middle Island, said the Route 25 Kmart building is an eyesore that needs to come down.

"Just look at what's there now," Talbot said, adding that comparing Kmart to the Breslin plan is like weighing "something awful versus something excellent."

MaryAnn Johnston, president of the Affiliated Brookhaven Civic Organization, disagreed. She said the Breslin project is too large.

"You cannot preserve at the same time as you destroy," she said. "Redevelop with equal intensity, not more."

The project must go before Suffolk County Planning Commission for review before it comes back to the Brookhaven Town Board for a final vote.

The development needs several town approvals before Breslin can break ground. Supervisor Mark Lesko said he believes the town board will have enough votes on the seven-member board to pass the project when it is time for a vote.

Lesko called the Kmart site "one of the signature blighted properties in Brookhaven if not all of Long Island." He disputed Amper's claim that the Breslin project would be within the Carmans River watershed and called the development "environmentally very friendly" and "a jewel for the community."

Amper said the town needs a comprehensive plan for the preservation of the Carmans River, a 10-mile waterway that stretches from Middle Island to Shirley.

"You plan first and develop later," said Amper, who called the project "a mega-development in the headwaters of the Carmans River."

Dana Hepler, a planner for the developer, said the shopping village would front on Artist Lake in Middle Island. The project would be pedestrian-oriented and provide a downtown area for Middle Island, he said.

"This will be a destination," he said.