Developer touts Mount Sinai outdoor mall

In Mount Sinai, as in many other communities on Long Island, strip malls dominate. But a proposal by Soundview Realty developer Paul Elliott promises to change the landscape along Mount Sinai's main drag, Route 25A.

Elliott proposes a village square-type outdoor mall centered by a clock tower, giving the spread a New England-style look. He needs a change of zoning - from the existing industrial to retail - to start building the $80 million, 30-acre center, to be called Mount Sinai Village Centre.

The Brookhaven town board will hold a hearing, and a possible vote, on the matter on March 8.

But, said town councilwoman Jane Bonner, "The community is widely divided on the project . . . The review process and the March 8 public hearing will help refine the proposal and give the public and myself a clearer picture of what we are being asked to support."

Some residents complain about additional traffic and question whether more stores are needed.

In five years of planning, in response to local concerns, Elliott has scaled back, from an initial 375,000 square feet to the current plan of 228,000. He says he has also eliminated plans for a big-box store and residential apartments. Elliott says his mall will have six retail buildings and that the project will generate 350 full-time jobs.

"This project is a very real opportunity for Mount Sinai to have a retail village setting," Elliott said. "It's really going to be a destination center. Mount Sinai doesn't have any shopping mall like it."

Mount Sinai Teachers Association president Mitchell Wolman said the project will generate almost $800,000 in tax revenues to the school district. That, he said, "will go a long way to offset reductions in state aid . . . " But the project is by no means assured.

"We've had a very good response, but you're always going to have people who don't want anything," Elliott said.

Deirdre Dubato, president of the Mount Sinai Civic Association, said the organization does not generally offer positions supporting projects, confining itself mostly to providing information. The association has not come out against Elliott's project, and noted he has reduced its size and held numerous talks with residents. So what does Dubato think the town board will do?

"I'm never sure what the town board will do," she said.