EDITORIAL: Brookhaven wants wipe out blight with light

In too many parts of Brookhaven, the suburban dream has turned into a nightmare: long-empty commercial buildings, covered with graffiti, imposing blight and hopelessness over a whole community. Now Supervisor Mark Lesko wants to shed some redevelopment light on that pervasive gloom.

At Stony Brook University yesterday, Lesko unveiled a brief film, "Blight to Light," before a full house of developers, planners, public officials and civics. It's up on YouTube for everyone else. The documentary - paid for by the Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency - shows depressing images of blighted spots all over town. Then Lesko described his blight-to-light (B2L) initiative.

First, on the theory that not all abandoned buildings are the same, he proposes a townwide study of blighted areas. Then he wants the town board to enact a new zoning classification to make it easier for developers to step up with community-enhancing plans. Lesko proposes a scoring system to decide what level of tax abatements and red-tape-cutting incentives developers can receive. That will cost the town revenue in the short term, but increase it in the long run, as redevelopment enhances property values.

There's no question that restoring blighted areas is preferable to plowing virgin land, and this proposal offers hope for doing just that. Lesko's town board colleagues would be wise to see the light and adopt something very much like it. hN