Senior housing proposed for Mount Sinai draws support, concern

Mount Sinai residents are debating a proposed 91-unit senior housing development that some say would create too much traffic and spoil their views.

Supporters of the proposed Pond View Estates say it would meet growing demand for retirement communities in the North Shore hamlet. Civic leaders say that Mount Sinai won't need any more senior housing complexes if the development is built.

The developer, Mount Sinai Manor Development Co. of Glen Cove, has asked the Brookhaven Town Board to lift a 43-year-old covenant mandating a 100-foot buffer along the parcel at Canal Road and Plymouth Avenue, and change the zoning on the property from residential to planned retirement community.

Councilwoman Jane Bonner, who represents Mount Sinai, said the town board may vote at its next meeting, Oct. 28.

During a public hearing before the town board Tuesday night, some residents of a neighboring senior housing development, Plymouth Estates, said a sales office would be built near their homes if Pond View Estates were approved. They also said the views from their homes would be disturbed while the project is built.

"We're going to have a bird's-eye view of the construction trucks going in and out," said Linda May, who said she spoke on behalf of 30 to 40 people. "And they're going to have a bird's-eye view of us."

Brookhaven Supervisor Edward P. Romaine said the town Planning Department would require new landscaping to shield neighbors' views of Pond View Estates, and he said the location of the sales office also would be addressed. "You should not have people going in your development for sales," he said.

J. Timothy Shea Jr., an attorney for the developer, said Pond View Estates homes would cost about $600,000 each. Officials said 10 percent of the condo units would be offered at lower prices to comply with affordable housing laws.

"The aging population on Long Island continues to grow, and we feel this will meet that need," Shea said.

Mount Sinai Civic Association vice president Brad Arrington said the group supports the plan but would oppose future senior housing developments because retirement communities would make up 25 percent of the hamlet's homes if the project were completed.

Arrington said civic leaders should support housing aimed at young residents. "Housing for younger people is going to be of increasing importance," Arrington said.