Islip to 'revisit' master plan amid spate of development proposals in town

The Town of Islip has hired a consultant to start work on a long-term policy plan that will offer a guideline for future development in the town.

The town's last comprehensive plan was adopted in 1979 and has undergone revisions since then.

“I thought it was time to revisit the master plan, given the new projects that have come forward … Before we move forward with anything more major, it just seemed it was the time to do it,” Supervisor Angie Carpenter said, referencing developments such as Midway Crossing, a $2.8 billion proposal that calls for 2.7 million square feet of new construction in Ronkonkoma.

She added that the comprehensive plan will play a "critical role" in keeping up with "societal changes and trends." The update will identify growth areas, and projected land use and zoning actions.

The plan will incorporate Islip planning studies dating to 1977, "which will potentially be re-evaluated, referenced and incorporated into the update," Carpenter said.

The Midway Crossing development alone is slated to add to the town a convention center; a 300-room hotel; health sciences facilities; and a new air terminal at Long Island MacArthur Airport with a walkway to Ronkonkoma’s Long Island Rail Road station.

Developers plan to pour billions more into other projects throughout the town over the next decade, including the planned expansion of publicly owned Jake’s 58 casino and an incoming proposal to build around 925 housing units at the former Island Hills golf course in Sayville.

“By nature, a comprehensive plan, it’s a policy document. You look at the future with a vision towards your goals and objectives,” Carpenter said, noting that the plan will consider factors such as housing, traffic, the environment and job creation. 

Focuses of the plan will include housing; transportation; infrastructure; community resilience; vulnerability due to climate change; job creation and retention; and open space and recreation, according to Carpenter. 

“But the major component as far as I’m concerned is the public input that’s absolutely going to help guide the plan,” she added. The goal is to create an opportunity for residents and other stakeholders in the town to work on creating a "shared vision" that will guide future development in Islip over the coming decades. 

The Islip Town Board authorized Carpenter to sign an agreement with consultant BFJ Planning at a cost of $469,000 at its October meeting.

Carpenter said the town has worked with BFJ Planning on a hamlet study of Bayport, adopted in 2020, and the consultant engaged in “very robust” conversations with the community — a consensus shared by Bayport Civic Association president Bob Draffin, who said the company was “proactive” about gathering public input.

According to the adopted hamlet study, the outreach process included two public workshops and smaller focus group meetings with property owners. 

“They basically took our suggestions pretty much without any blowback,” he said, highlighting the importance of having a master plan for development in the town.

The study aimed to address development pressures, especially along Montauk Highway, by identifying measures to "protect and enhance" business districts, which "lacked an overall vision," causing planning to be "reactionary rather than proactive," the report says. Goals outlined in the study included developing a publicly supported vision for future growth, reconsidering zoning regulations in the area, and developing recommendations to make Montauk Highway more pedestrian-friendly.

"Some of these applications come in from developers that are completely off the wall, and in absence of a master plan, the town planning department kind of has to entertain it,” Draffin said. “Whereas, if you have a master plan in place, which I see kind of as a blueprint for the future, it kind of encourages what you want to see and discourages, maybe more importantly, what you don't want to see.” 

Noah Levine, associate principal at BFJ Planning, said community involvement will be a priority throughout the process of writing the plan and “the best plans are the ones that have the most input.”

He said the consultant is still working on a plan for community outreach, which will be developed in conjunction with the town.

Carpenter said she envisions around two years at most will be needed to complete the comprehensive plan.

By Brianne Ledda

brianne.ledda@newsday.com@brianne_ledda

Brianne Ledda covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.