Brookhaven launches effort to revitalize former Village of Mastic Beach

Officials in Brookhaven have hired an engineering firm to comprehensively study Neighborhood Road as part of an effort to revitalize the former Village of Mastic Beach, which was disbanded in 2016, Newsday reported. The firm, which Newsday did not name in its report but identified as Nelson, Pope & Voorhees by the Long Island Advance, will take a couple of months to figure out the buildings that should be demolished, which should be redeveloped and gather information for a broader redevelopment plan. There have been signs of new development life in the Mastic Beach area, such as a $9.5 million ambulance headquarters that opened in September. Several developers have already told officials they’re interested in investing in Mastic Beach, Brookhaven Town Councilman Dan Panico told Newsday. But full redevelopment needs increased sanitation capacity, officials said. Voters passed a $191 million referendum to fund a new sewer district for the area, but that didn’t include physical sewers for Mastic Beach. Officials are looking to get federal and state money to fund a $32 million sewer connection, but developers would still need to pay for the pipe, Newsday reported. Officials also have only 12 more abandoned homes to demolish in order to fully eradicate a vacancy problem. [Newsday]