Your town wants you to help plan its future Brookhaven 2030 meetings scheduled next week
By Jennifer Choi
January 25, 2008 | 12:46 PM As residents of the Town of Brookhaven, you are the driving force of the town's plan for the future: Brookhaven 2030. According to the plan website, brookhaven2030.org, "The most important part of Brookhaven 2030? You." And what exactly is Brookhaven 2030? "It's the conservation of environmental resources and the provision of infrastructure, a multi?modal transportation system, a diversity of housing options and public services." The number in its name refers to the year by which Brookhaven's population is expected to grow by 90,000, thereby requiring nearly 60,000 new housing units. Comprehensive Plan 2030 is the first of three phases during which a 20-member steering committee will review data and set policies. That's the "what," now here's the "how" you can participate. On January 29, 30 and 31, public workshops will be held in different locations from 7:30 to 9:30 pm. These Environmental, Cultural and Open Space Resources (ECOS) workshops will take place in William Floyd Middle School on the South Shore, Longwood High School in Yaphank and P.J. Gelinas Junior High School in Setauket on the North Shore, respectively. Even though each workshop will cover the same information and exercises, locations in the northern, center and southern parts of town were chosen so that all residents of Brookhaven have an opportunity to attend. Urbitran, a New York City engineering and planning company, is spearheading the project. Deborah Howes, Urbitran's director of community planning, has been the project manager of Brookhaven 2030 since last month. She explained that the goal of these workshops is to identify the areas of the town that should be preserved and protected. Participants will be divided into "break-out tables" where they will be able to draw onto maps any additional items that correspond to the map's subject. Each table will have a slightly different focus and will be facilitated by a member of Howes' team. She emphasized that public input is essential to this process. "In my business, we find that if you tell developers exactly what you want, you're more likely to get it," Howes said. "Let's be clear about what is acceptable and where it's acceptable." When asked what's different about this plan compared to prior ones — Brookhaven has drafted several so-called master plans over past decades that have been largely ignored — Howes answered, Brookhaven 2030 will "provide specific design guidance on how that development should occur, and that's what's different." Councilwoman Connie Kepert (D-Middle Island) is the Town Board liaison for the project. "Obviously land use plans are really snapshots in time and they need to be updated," Kepert said. "We are overdue to update our land use plan" According to Howes, residents will be asked to participate in dot-placing exercises during future workshops as they did during the Issues and Opportunities workshops in October and November when a total of 250 people placed dots on separate maps indicating the "best" and the "worst" of the town. She noted that development of the plan began in June 2007 and will be completed by December 2008, adding that the value of the contract is $500,000, which "works out to be about a dollar a person" in a township of just under half a million residents. It's time to "make some bold choices ... stand up and expand," said Howes, who grew up on Long Island and has been familiar with Brookhaven for over 50 years. Councilwoman Kathy Walsh (R-Centereach) noted the significance of having such a planning document that will serve as a guideline even as the town experiences change. "When changes take place in our government, this document will continue to be here," Walsh said. "Because it's the community, it's not one particular person. As positions change in the planning department or the board, this document will continue to be the guide." Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld (D-Setauket) said the planning process has been more inclusive so far, adding that the Citizens Assembly, as the two meetings late in 2007 were described, included many people from civic organizations, school boards and fire districts who participated in discussions about future development plans. However, the first of the two initial meetings at Town Hall in Farmingville was poorly advertised and sparsely attended — only about 30 persons by some accounts. The second meeting generated over 150 participants. MaryAnn Johnston, president of the Affiliated Brookhaven Civic Organizations (ABCO), stressed the importance of generating a structure in which the communities are involved. "Otherwise, I don't see why anyone would participate," Johnston said. Even though she praised the work of the steering committee, she noted that the process of selecting its members was completed without notifying the public. "The process itself was not transparent for the public ... inherently, a bad way to go," she said, adding that it's "always disheartening" for residents when they are not given an opportunity to recommend leaders who will represent their communities. According to Project Manager Howes, future workshops will be scheduled to gather further public input. "The town is really committed to getting the public involved," she said, adding that all information from these workshops will be available on the website within 30 days. Narratives, photos, maps and graphs will be accessible for a more illustrative presentation of the data. "We know that people learn in a variety of different ways," Howes said. "No matter how you receive the information, you'll be able to understand what's going on with your town's plan."