Sayville residents get a say in new Island Hills proposal
The Island Hills Golf Club in Sayville. Credit: Newsday/Audrey C. Tiernan
Sayville native Tim Dolan has played the Island Hills Golf and Country Club course. When Rechler Equity Partners first proposed building 1,365 apartment units there, the economics and history teacher was worried.
"Like a lot of Sayville residents, I was concerned it was just going to be another large high-rise that wasn't going to fit in with the community," recalled Dolan, 47. "I thought it was going to be like downtown Manhattan."
In 2021, the Islip town board unanimously rejected the property's rezoning.
Now, partners Gregg and Mitchell Rechler are back. They don't have a definitive plan, though it will likely include fewer units, lower heights and a mix of homes to rent or own on the 114-acre site. But they do have a new approach.
This time there will be an advisory committee of five local residents. The committee will meet with small groups of stakeholders — residents, first responders, educators, business owners and more — to gather ideas they will bring back to the Rechlers, who say they will incorporate that feedback in their next proposal.
Among the committee members: Tim Dolan.
The father of three sees himself not as a salesperson or promoter, but as a conduit. "We're being proactive, going to the community to see what they'd like," Dolan said. "It could do away with a lot of these not-in-my-backyard battles."
But he's well aware of his neighbors' potential reactions.
"I just hope it's not a lot of pounding on the table and screaming," he added.
Brace yourself, Tim. It wouldn't be Long Island without at least some pounding and screaming.
Opponents still say they oppose any apartments — no matter how many. The dog whistles, loud in the past, could easily return. And at a time when school and library board meetings can become contentious, even small meetings of community members run by other community members could get ugly.
Committee member Mary Lou Cohalan calls it the "weaponization of protest." She remembers shopping at a local Stop & Shop while the initial Island Hills proposal was being debated, when she was accosted by someone providing incorrect information.
"I had the temerity to correct her," recalled Cohalan, the former Suffolk County News owner and editor. "She started screaming at me."
That exchange stayed with Cohalan, who's part of the famous Islip political family. She hopes this process will foster more reasoned conversation: "I think there'll be a lot of effort to welcome nuanced suggestions."
But the developers need to do their part, too, first by recognizing the significant change to the community they are proposing — no matter how good the plan.
Rechler Equity Partners is paying the committee members for their time -— although Cohalan declined the pay.
There are many reasons to think this effort will fail. But the five members want to make this work. The enthusiasm and commitment oozing from Dolan, Cohalan and their fellow members — political consultant Mike Dawidziak, Good Samaritan Hospital spokesman Justin Jaycon, and restaurant manager Fred Welge — are contagious. If they succeed in incorporating community input into a viable plan, the strategy could serve as a model for other developers — and bring new housing to Sayville.
"I'm sure long after it’s done, people will think it was there for a thousand years and really appreciate it," Dolan said.
Someday, he noted, his children will look for homes of their own.
"Maybe they’ll end up in Island Hills," Dolan said. "It wouldn’t be a bad place to live."
Columnist Randi F. Marshall's opinions are her own.
CLARIFICATION: Mary Lou Cohalan has declined the payment offered by Rechler Equity Partners for her work on the Sayville advisory committee. An earlier version of this column mischaracterized the payment.
Randi Marshall is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
