Zoning vote on Oakdale's Bourne Estate postponed

Dozens of neighbors of the Bourne Estate railed last week against a potential zone change that would lead to the development of hundreds of housing units on the historic Oakdale property.

St. John's University, owner of 170 acres of the estate, is touting a $40 million plan to preserve its historic assets, including the 115-year-old Bourne Mansion, partly in disrepair. To pay for the renovations, the school devised a plan to divide the property and build 384 housing units on the east side.

Islip Town Planning Commissioner Dave Genaway gave a thumbs-up to the plan at a public hearing Thursday night, saying St. John's "did more community outreach than we normally see in zoning applications."

The hearing could have resulted in a town board vote to rezone the estate as planned landmark preservation, but after almost two hours of passionate public testimony the board tabled a decision, saying it needed to "process" what it had heard.

Town Clerk Olga Murray said Friday that there was no specified date for the board to revisit the zoning application, but Genaway said he expects the board will vote on it at its March 20 meeting.

After the vote was tabled, town Supervisor Tom Croci told residents that he grew up boating around Long Island and has fond memories of the Bourne Estate boathouse. He vowed the board would make a careful decision.

Thursday's testimony was emotional. A handful of residents said the beauty and tranquillity of the Gilded Age estate was the reason they moved to Oakdale.

"I grew up in Queens," said Noelle Werner, 35, her voice breaking as she addressed Genaway and the board. "We moved out here because we wanted space and we wanted quiet -- we wanted peace."

Many residents said they weren't informed of the zoning change and only knew about the hearing because Werner distributed homemade fliers to her neighbors.

Other concerns were noted: that sluggish daytime traffic on Montauk Highway would worsen, property values would plummet, schools would be overburdened and development would destroy quality of life and ruin animal habitats.

But under the current zoning, Councilman Anthony Senft pointed out, the school could sell the property as 100-plus one-acre private parcels.

"If there were 100 parcels, there would be no mansion," said St. John's attorney, Eliot Bloom of Mineola. He said most developers who wanted to buy the estate would have "carved it up into single-family homes and razed the historic buildings." Landmark status would mean the historic elements are kept intact, he said.

There also has been local support for the plan. Oakdale Civic Association director Stan Feldman said St. John's has worked closely with his and other neighborhood groups.

"I think they're absolutely going in the right direction," he said. "There is a lot of history there and this is one way of preserving it."