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Community members opposed to the plan to build a massive apartment complex on the property of the long-shuttered Island Hills Golf Club will host an Island Hills Plan Meeting tomorrow, Feb. 29, at noon in the Sayville Library.
Rechler Equity Partners is looking to invest $500 million in developing a residential area with 1,365 apartment units, 25 acres of neighborhood recreational open space and two miles of walking paths and small parks.
To set the wheels in motion in building its “Greybarn Sayville,” Rechler in 2017 applied for a zoning change with Town of Islip — asking officials to approve a switch from the existing residential district to a planned development district.
The plan has drawn the ire of many people in the community, over an array of concerns. Chief among them are the visual impact of three- and four-story buildings, traffic congestion and the influx of hundred of new students into the Connetquot Central School District.
Saturday’s noon meeting, hosted by the Greater Islip Association, is open to the public. The library is located at 88 Greene Ave in Sayville.
For decades, the Lakeland Avenue property accommodated golfers outside and catered weddings, birthday parties, communions and other parties inside. But it hasn’t been used for nearly five years.
“Through careful and smart planning, we believe it could represent an invaluable asset to the Sayville community and surrounding area,” the developer states on the website that details the Greybarn Sayville plan. “Greybarn aims to serve as a community, not a commodity.”
Rechler has argued that the complex would be a boon to the local tax base and make positive improvements to a distressed property.
The website StopIslandHills.com notes that the present zoning for the Island Hills property would allow for 84 new single-family homes to be built on 40,000 square foot lots. Many residents are concerned that the size of the proposed complex conflicts with the residential area that would surround it.
