Chapter IV:
Land Use in the Hamlet
1. Guiding principles Brookhaven Village Association Zoning
and Development Policy
Brookhaven Hamlet lies entirely within the
Brookhaven Town-defined Critical Environmental Area, and much of the
Hamlet is within the New York State-defined coastal area. We are
also the largest historic district (settled in 1678) in Brookhaven
Town. See Plate 2.
The Brookhaven Village Association believes that
the pastoral, semi-rural character of the community is one of its
most important assets. Another is its water resources: Bordered on
the east by the wild and scenic Carmans River and on the south by
the Great South Bay, and with the mostly protected 2.5-mile-long
Beaver Dam Creek running through the middle, our Hamlet is
surrounded by a wetlands environment. We believe that any
development that takes place within the Hamlet should preserve these
assets as much as possible,
The BVAs comments on any proposed development
will be based on the following criteria which are designed to
further that above aim:
 | Wetlands. No development should take
place on wetlands, either construction of buildings or any kind of
fill. Existing filled wetlands should be restored. State and Town
wetland laws should be strictly enforced, particularly provisions
pertaining to setbacks from wetlands. Furthermore, if proposed
developments contain wetlands, these wetlands should not be
included in yield calculation and no wetlands should be destroyed
in exchange for the creation of other wetlands. |
| Agricultural property. The BVA
encourages the continuation of agricultural use of farmland within
the Hamlet. We would like to encourage farmers who have decided to
sell or develop their land to first meet with groups such as the
Peconic Land Trust who can council farm owners on ways to preserve
open land while still having the same economic results. We also
encourage farmers to look into Suffolk Countys Farm Preservation
program, in which they could sell development rights to the
County, |
| Trees. Strict adherence to the
Brookhaven Town Tree Law, which requires a permit to remove trees
from all commercial and industrial property and residential
parcels in excess of two acres. |
| Roadways. In order to preserve the rural
character of the Hamlet we wish to avoid wide roads with curbing.
Because the Hamlet is an historic district, developers have the
option to go either with the standard 50-foot-wide road and curbs
or with country lanes, such as the ones we presently have. We also
feel that street lights are not in keeping with the rural
character of the community. |
Voted on each year since 1988 by the Board of
Management. The above version was voted on April (2, 1995.
|
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