The Longwood Alliance has been awarded a $12,500 grant by the Long Island Community Foundation to move smart growth forward in central Brookhaven. The Long Island Community Foundation is a fund of the Long Island Unitarian Universalist Fund (LIUU). The Alliance will use the LIUU grant to address problems identified in the Alliance’s Mini Master Plan, and later reflected in the Town of Brookhaven’s 1996 Land Use Plan.
As was stated in the Town of Brookhaven’s 1996 Land Use Plan, the Town has failed to “structure development patterns to enable the eventual establishment of public transportation systems.” The plan continues to state: “...traffic congestion is a function of dispersed land uses, people do not live close to their jobs, there are no centers or ‘downtowns’ , there is increased automobile ownership and there is additional population, both within the Town and surrounding area. In addition, there continues to be isolated, incompatible zoning scattered throughout the Town. Probably the most difficult objective not attained is the creation of a ‘sense of place’- attractive and identifiable downtowns or hamlets.” (p.6 Brookhaven Town 1996 Land Use Plan.)
These problems, as well as, the lack of public open spaces, and the absence of “inclusionary zoning” which requires the interspersing of affordable units within subdivisions will be tackled by the Alliance. Other problems identified are environmental deterioration, and unsafe multilane highways.
The process to be undertaken by the Alliance will consist of the development of a broad citizen outreach program. The process will reach beyond traditional alliances to bring together environmentalists, economic development interests, civic representatives, at large citizens and key representatives from all levels of government. This diverse group will build on the goals and priorities generated in the Master Plan process by developing a number of benchmarks or indicators of sustainability. The development of such criteria will provide an opportunity to discuss the standards which should be used to measure the progress, and prosperity of Central Brookhaven. Such performance based measurement will also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of current landuse policy.
Benchmarks have been successfully used in places like Cambridge, Massachusetts, Seattle Washington, the State of Oregon, the State of Florida, and as close as the City of Glen Cove. Benchmarks have enabled Multnomah County Oregon to link vision, and programs to performance measurements. Every program in the County budget is reviewed to determine if it contributes to the achievement of the benchmarks identified. According to county officials such linage creates a “line of sight” from vision, to benchmarks, to services, and outcomes.
The ultimate goal of this project is to counteract the negative effects of sprawl, and build communities which are vibrant and sustainable. Therefore the Alliance will be examining benchmarks which will help to achieve that goal. Such benchmarks include one of Oregon’s which measures the percentage of new development that lies within one-quarter mile of community services, parks, and schools. Another is Glen Cove’s which measures the percentage of residents using various means of transportation. These performance based measurement will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of current landuse policy.
This process will culminate in a consensus driven vision for community revitalization in central Brookhaven. The Alliance also plans on developing a comprehensive educational program to inform local citizens of the principles and methods of sustainable growth.
