Concerns raised over Eastport plan

Developer Jim Tsunis is still waiting to have his change of zone application for a development project in Eastport heard by the Brookhaven Town Board, but in the meantime local residents want to know what’s in it for them—and refuse to be quiet until they get some answers.

Mr. Tsunis’s proposal, dubbed the Commons at Eastport, calls for a change of zone on three separate lots from A-1 Residence and J-2 Business to J-6 Business on the western corner of Montauk Highway and Union Avenue next to the King Kullen Shopping Center. He said a house currently on the property will be demolished to make room for a pharmacy and bank, both complete with drive-through windows, a two-story office building and sufficient parking on the 4.39-acre parcel. Mr. Tsunis said the tenants have not been selected. He noted that he will keep the buildings in line with the area’s historical flair.

The maximum the parcels combined could hold if they’re rezoned is 60,000 square feet of development, Mr. Tsunis said at a meeting of the East Moriches Property Owners Association on September 15. His project would be about half of that, or 32,000 square feet, and he plans to land-bank a third of the allowable 230 parking spaces.

“So if these parking lots started overflowing, which I doubt they will ever do, you would go into this buffer zone in the back and put in more parking area,” Mr. Tsunis said. “But in the front of the King Kullen center, there’s that sea of asphalt there where there are no cars ever parked that can be used.”

The King Kullen shopping center is a sore point for residents, because it already contains a store with a drive-through. Dr. James Pierce of Manorville questioned what would happen to the other two older, outdated pharmacies in the area, but Mr. Tsunis said that a modern pharmacy is what the public wants.

One glaring hole in the project, residents said at the meeting, is a public benefit, which is required with change of zone applications. And that doesn’t include the community wanting a modern pharmacy, they said. It also wouldn’t include a red light installed to deal with the additional traffic, Eastport resident Andrea Spilka said.

“You’re really talking about impact versus benefit,” she said. “The impact of your development will be more traffic, the need for a red light. We’re expecting green building. That to me is not a benefit anymore—that’s something that should be part of any proposal. We’re looking for something that will benefit the community on the other side.”

Other people at the meeting suggested getting rid of the entrance on Main Street and moving one of the buildings back to create a larger lawn. Mr. Tsunis said he’d take those ideas into consideration.

Some residents raised the question of what other businesses could go in the development if Mr. Tsunis did not secure a bank or a pharmacy. Mr. Tsunis said the extended J-6 zoning would allow for many other options, including a billiard hall, health club or nightclub.

“I’d like to stand behind what I’m saying to you. And, most likely, there will be a bank, an office building and pharmacy there,” Mr. Tsunis said. “That’s the plan and we’re going to try to stay that course. We’re not going to put any residential apartments in there. We want to keep it strictly business.”