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Visioning - Around The U.S.
And in Our Towns

The Visioning process used in Coram and Middle Island is not unique. If you search the Internet for "smart growth" and "visioning," you will find similar efforts in California, Minnesota, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Florida and New Jersey. These are just some of the states using Smart Growth principles to plan future alternatives to sprawl development. It is truly an idea that spans the nation.

What is special is that the visioning process for Coram and Middle Island brought together the grassroots efforts of local civic groups, Town government, local businesses and area landholders. The Visions developed ARE unique in that they are based on the current development in our towns extended to include Smart Growth principles guided by the input of those involved in the visioning process.

As a result of the process on this page, Visions were created. You can read more about our area's Visions HERE.

An open invitation was extended to area residents and businesses for the Visioning process. You may have missed the opportunity then, but the process of defining development particulars is ongoing now. If you missed the Visioning weekend, you can still lend your ideas to the Visions as the evolve. It is as simple as attending our monthly meetings. Consider this your invitation. See you there.

May 3-6, 2002: The Community Visioning Weekend

The Visioning Development Process

Smart Growth is not simply the redirection of development patterns from traditional suburban sprawl to interactive community centers. To be truly a smart growth project, the community, which will be most effected by future development, must be an integral part of the planning process. The Longwood Alliance has made substantial progress in our effort to bring progressive planning to Brookhaven. To date we have made great strides in accomplishing our goal of inclusive planning, bringing in national renowned planners such as Dan Burden, in May of 2001 and again in 2002 when we sponsored a 4 day community charrette. We also brought in traffic engineer Rick Hall in 2002 and again in December 2003. We have conducted a comprehensive effort to reach out to all segments of the Coram and Middle Island communities. Our intensive reach out involved the development of this web site, large scale mailings, (we printed, and distributed over 15.000 brochures). Our educational campaign included presentations to the following organizations.: WMI Elementary PTA, Coram PTA, Longwood PTA Council, Jr. Lions & FBLA, MIFD. the Longwood Rotary, the Longwood Library Board, Birchwood Homeowners Association, Key Club and Honor Society, NECCA , MICA and the Gordon Heights Revitalization Committee, and Birchwood's Republican Club, the key community organizations within the corridor. We have further developed a close working relationship with our Town Council representatives, and have done follow up presentations to Congressman Bishop and all State Assembly and Senatorial Representatives

The process continued throughout 2003 with a successful effort to attain a moratorium along the Middle Country Road corridor, with negotiations with developers, and meetings with town and country planners. In 2004, with the help of people like you, we hope to make substantial progress in achieving the goals of the community.

The goals of the visioning process include:

  • Enhancing safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists on State Route 25
  • Replacing sprawl type development with interactive community centers.
  • Creating development plans which promote economic growth.
  • Redirecting development from environmentally sensitive sites to downtown centers.

    Project for a Sustainable Longwood

    • Creating a Village from a Vision

    It is the goal of Sustainable Longwood to humanize our built environment. To encourage growth which creates communities, preserves sensitive areas of open space, and dignifies the human spirit. We wish to set forth an initiative that will provide the people of Longwood with the tools and knowledge they need to demand the building of livable, vibrant communities.

    Speaking to his fellow colonists just before they stepped on land John Winthrop, the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony said: "We must delight in each other, make others, conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our community as members of the same body."

    Sustainable Longwood began in 2000 as an effort by the Longwood Alliance to bring the above concepts into our communities and make them a reality.

    The Visioning process, therefore, began with these goals of Sustainable Longwood:

    • To humanize our built environment
    • To encourage growth which creates communities, preserves sensitive areas of open space, and dignifies the human spirit
    • To set forth an initiative that will provide the people of Longwood with the tools and knowledge they need to demand the building of livable, vibrant communities.

    A grant obtained by the Longwood Alliance brought Dan Burden to our community to speak in May 3, 2001.

    Sustainable Longwood
    Hosted By Dan Burden

    Dan Burden, a specialist in transportation planning, was statewide Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator for the Florida Department of Transportation for 15 years, and is a former National Geographic photographer. His inspiring, dynamic presentation included slides of streetscapes from around the world. Dan was recently the nucleus of the Vision Huntington ©¯Gerard Stree Project©˜, in which Huntington Town leaders, businesses, and civic groups embarked on a comprehensive street design and community building effort.

    April, 2002: Organizing To Develop A Vision

    A key component of sustainable development is involving the community in all stages of the planning process. The process is a true grass roots effort, an all out effort to reach all segments of the community. This intensive reach out involved large scale mailings, the development of a web site, introductory presentations to the institutions, and organizations which make up the community: the schools, churches, fraternal organizations, civics, school clubs, PTAs, and on and on. With the help of the Longwood Library, and the Longwood School District, 15,000 invitations were mailed to local residents. Additionally, the Town of Brookhaven initiated a mailing to every land owner along the corridor. Obviously we felt that the participation of the community was crucial to the ultimate success of the Renaissance Project

    In May of 2002, an intensive planning process called a Charrette, was sponsored by the Longwood Alliance with the help of the the Town of Brookhaven and Vision Long Island. Focus groups, educational presentations, and discussion groups were used to generate a shared vision for future development. Nationally-renowned planners and traffic engineers brought the results together. General plans for land use and the development of a network of roadways in Coram and Middle Island, along Middle Country Road were created.

    A true grass roots effort, the visions serve as a guide for development within the Middle Country Road Corridor. A new zoning code for downtown development (J-6) is in its final stage of development.

    Visioning - A 4-Day Weekend

    Friday May 3, 2002

    Daytime Bus Tour and Focus Groups

    The Leadership Team, Town officials and consultants toured Middle Country Road courtesy of AtlanticExpress. Among other things, the Team showed the Consultants some of the trouble areas and the history of Middle Island & Coram areas along the length of the Middle Country Road. The information gathered was used to help the consultants with roadway design and to focus Town officials on the area's need for planned development.

    Following the bus tour, a series of one-hour focus groups were conducted to discuss and explain concerns and needs to the consultants, Town officials and Leadersip Team members. Focus groups included one for each of community leaders, emergency service providers, the business community, area youth and school officials.

    Evening Community Visioning

    The community at large was invited to the high school auditorium, where the consultant team made presentations regarding roadway and land use development. Those in attendance then created written descriptions of their visions for their community in 20 years, as well as their hopes and horrors for Middle Country Road. Direct community input delivered strong, common preferences for the future development of both Coram and Middle Island.

    Saturday May 4, 2002

    Early Morning Walking Tours

    With information from the focus groups and community-at large as a backdrop, groups gathered at several locations along Middle Country Road for an in-depth look at the roadway and land use concerns and potential solutions.

    Daytime Community Brainstorming & Planning

    An open invitation to area residents and businesses resulted in more than one hundred people attending a four-hour planning workshop. Using aerial photos of the area, groups discussed and drew site plans for locations along Middle Country Road in Coram and Middle Island. The final hour was spent with groups reporting their results to everyone attending. The drawings were collected as one more piece for the Consultant Team to consider in their design process.

    Sunday May 5, 2002

    Consultant Team Design Session

    The Consultant Team met all day to discuss and begin creating possible designs for future roadways, town centers and other the land uses. The information gathered on Friday and Saturday was used, as well as area statistical information from agencies, such as the NYS Dept. of Transportation's peak average daily traffic statistics at various points along Middle Country Road.

    Monday May 6, 2002

    Daytime Consultant Team Vision Development Session

    The Consultant Team met to finalize their drawings and reports.

    Evening Vision Presentations to the Community

    At the open-invitation meeting, the combined Visions of the Community and Consultants were reported. The report included visions of a transformed Middle Country Road, with town centers in Coram and Middle Island.

    Details of the Visions can be found HERE.

    The Visioning process was divided into the following sequence:

    First Day - May 3: Consultant Bus Tour , Community Leaders Focus Group , Emergency Providers Focus Group , Business Focus Group (Luncheon) , Youth Focus Group , School Officials Focus Group , Community At Large - Charette.

    Second Day - May 4: Walking Tour-Artist Lake Walking Tour-Longwood Library , Walking Tour-Bartlett Pond Park , Walking Tour-Trinity United Methodist Church , Community Brainstorming Session , Design Workshops , Table Reports.

    Third Day - May 5: Consultants Design Sessions.

    Fourth Day - May 6: Consultants Design Finalization , Consultants' Vision Report To The Community.

    The Visioning weekend was a great success that resulted in a set of Visions for Coram and Middle Island, as well as gaining added support and leadership by local residents and businesses.

    Making Visions A Reality

    Organizing The Renaissance Project
    Under the leadership of chairperson Connie Kepert, at the June, 2002, monthly meeting the Renaissance Project organized itself for the task of turning the general Visions, developed at the Visioning weekend, into a reality. Task forces were created to attend to different aspects of the process such as monitoring planning applications submitted to the Town, seeking immediate improvements throughout Coram and Middle Island, researching information and involving the community in the Visions. You can learn more about the Renaissance Project Task Forces, and their ongoing efforts, HERE.

    Moratorium
    By the Fall of 2002, the Renaissance Project determined that the pace of development in Coram and Middle Island would result in continued sprawl before the foundations of the Visions could be put into place. To resolve a similar problem, the Montauk Highway Project in Mastic successfully requested a moratorium. The Renaissance Project sought a similar moratorium late in 2002.

    Following many trips to the Town Board by community residents the Town Council established a six-month moratorium on development for the Middle Country Road corridor in July, 2003. This made it possible for the Town Planning Department and the Renaissance Project to review and guide all planning applications to be more in keeping with the Visions. You can learn more about the moratorium HERE.

    The Future Of Middle Country Road
    The New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) continues to make roadway plans for communities unchanged by any and all community input. The Middle Country Road Renaissance Project is actively working to change that, for our area and for other communities on Long Island.

    The DOT cannot be allowed to continue to ignore community input, and input from nationally recognized traffic calming experts. Nor can the DOT be allowed to ignore the results of their ever wider roadways on the saftey of motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.

    The DOT has held public presentations of roadway widening plans for Route 25 in Coram and Middle Island. The Renaissance Project supports improvements for Route 25 but strongly opposes the DOT's current proposals. The DOT's plans for other nearby State roads, including Route 112, and Route 347 have impacts on the future of Middle Country Road. The Renaissance Project joins with other community organizations in opposing those plans.

    Learn more about the Renaissance Project's DOT concerns:

    # Visitors: www.middlecountryrdproject.orgCopyright © 2003 Middle Country Road Renaissance Project. All rights reserved.