A final pitch to turn golf course into housing

Daily Point

Will third time be the charm for Sayville's Island Hills?

In its latest attempt to build housing at the former Island Hills golf course in Sayville, Rechler Equity Partners has submitted a new proposal to the Islip Town Planning Board that emphasizes homeownership and significantly reduces the development's density, The Point has learned.

The new plan comes one year after developer Gregg Rechler stood before the planning board during a sometimes-hostile five-hour hearing, offering to build 890 units at the 114-acre site — a plan that was derided by residents who sought to stop what one called a "monstrosity."

Rechler told The Point Tuesday that he has spent the last year meeting with key stakeholders, including Islip Town Councilman John Lorenzo, who represents the area, and Islip planning department personnel, before coming up with the new version of the proposed development known as South Bay Village.

Rechler's latest submission offers a development that includes 568 units, 80% of which will be home ownership. Just 113 of the units will be for rent, and of those, 48 will be two-bedroom townhomes. In every type, 10% will be affordable, though prices have not yet been determined. And five units will be earmarked for adults with developmental disabilities.

Rechler noted that his company did an analysis of all of the housing currently built within 1,000 feet of the property and found the same 80% ownership-20% rental mix in the existing stock.

Of the 455 for-sale homes, 91 will be restricted to those 55 and older. The single-family homes will line most of the outermost perimeter; the development will include a large 200-foot buffer of green space between the homes and Bohemia Parkway, and no building will exceed 35 feet, Rechler said. There will be a total of 22.4 acres of open space available to the public.

In contrast, last year's proposal offered 576 rental and 314 for-sale units. That plan, too, was a revision from Rechler Equity's original plan for the property, which Rechler and his partner and cousin, Mitchell, first offered up in March 2017. At the time, they sought to build 1,365 apartments, all of which would have been for rent.

For the Rechlers, the latest proposal, which Gregg Rechler said was "heavily negotiated and collaborated," represents a significant shift, since they've spent years building rental housing in locations like Amityville and Patchogue. But Gregg Rechler told The Point in an interview that he and Mitchell "had to focus on what was best for the property."

"I do feel strongly that multifamily is important ... but the diversity of housing in our development is really the key," Rechler said. "I'm a strong believer that we need all different housing types in Suffolk County and this is an opportunity to create a wide mix ... Our goal was really to create a community, and I still think that could happen here."

Islip planning officials will now share the submission with the planning board, which will hold a public hearing and vote on the proposal.

If the planning board gives it the go-ahead, it will then go before the Islip Town Board.

Rechler said he hopes all of that happens by the end of the year.

And while he said he's prepared for continued opposition, he thinks the new plan better represents what the community has sought.

The Rechlers' submission proposes a variety of traffic mitigation measures, including the widening of roads and inclusion of new turn lanes. The developers also plan to build a fire department substation and a sewage treatment plant on the site. They'll also leave an extra 1 ½ acres of available land around the plant in case the county wants to expand sewers to downtown Sayville. And they're offering $250,000 for a new Sayville Business Improvement District.

Rechler said he will not be seeking industrial development agency tax breaks. The Rechlers' 200+ page planning board submission indicates that Rechler Equities estimates the development's total annual projected tax revenue — much of which would go to the Connetquot school district — at $8.7 million.

For comparison, Rechler said the development firm paid $336,934 in real estate taxes on the now-vacant property last year.

Rechler said he doesn't expect to come back for a fourth time. "This is it," Rechler said. "I've given the town so much leeway ... I think we couldn't have been more willing to compromise in this approach." Rechler noted that a Sayville resident could start in a one-bedroom apartment, eventually buy a starter home, graduate to a larger home and then choose one of the age-restricted units — all in South Bay Village.

"I do think this will serve the community for generations to come," Rechler said. 

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

Pencil Point

A vacation from the election

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Final Point

Will there be any movement in Nassau Leg?

While national political pundits calculate innumerable permutations about the midterm elections, locally, not even prediction market junkies think Democrats can flip the Nassau County Legislature.

But some Democrats are peeking into the possibility of perhaps picking up one more seat.

Maybe.

Republicans currently have an 11-8 majority, just below the coveted supermajority that would deny Democrats any leverage.

While one Nassau Democratic Party source told The Point they are hoping to flip LD9, another said that wasn't feasible.

The race is a rematch from last year between GOP incumbent Scott Strauss and Democrat Juleigh Chin, who lost to Strauss 55.5%-44.3%. That's a decent spread but it was the closest any Democrat came to beating a Republican incumbent. Chin raised $11,575 this year, according to July 15 campaign finance filings with the New York State Board of Elections, far outpacing Strauss, who reported raising $1,000. But Strauss has over $33,000 in his campaign bank account compared with Chin's $10,900. Strauss got a total of 9,038 votes last year compared with Chin's 7,212.

"She lost a tight one last year," one Democratic Party source said. "If they both run the same campaign this year that they ran last year, she should win ... last year was just an absolutely horrible year for Democrats."

Another party source disagreed, saying "I think we're going to remain where we are."

On the Republican side of the ledger, LD16 looks ripest for the GOP to flip, especially with incumbent Democrat Arnold Drucker retiring. That gives Republicans a fair shot at a seat they haven't held since ... ever. There have only been two electeds representing LD16 since the county legislature was created in 1996 — Judith Jacobs and Drucker.

Drucker won last year 53%-47%, the closest margin of victory for any legislator, Republican or Democrat.

In this year's LD16 race, Republican Olivia Pfeifer is facing Democrat Jared Behr, who has outraised Pfeifer, according to July 15 filings. Behr raised $24,082 compared with Pfeifer's $8,075, which includes $3,500 in transfers into her campaign from local Republican clubs.

In all 19 county legislative districts, Republicans outraised Democrats more than 2 to 1, with $288,000 raised by GOP candidates compared with $118,000 raised by Dems.

In 2023, Democrats, who control both the State Legislature and the Governor's Mansion, approved a bill to give their party a boost by forcing local elections to even-year voting starting this year. That means all of Nassau's 19 legislative districts are up this November for the second straight year.

While Democrats are counting on interest in the contested House races to be a draw at the polls, Republican political consultant Michael Dawidziak told The Point local candidates in Nassau are at risk of being overshadowed by those candidates running for national offices. "People are being inundated with ads coming out of Washington," he said. "Even if you raise a considerable amount of money for a local race, it's going to be very hard to cut through the noise."

But with 98 days to go until Election Day, "there's still a lot of green between here and the hole," Dawidziak said. "You don't hit the panic button this early."

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

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