Long Islanders used to get things accomplished. We built F-14 Tomcats that roared across the skies of Calverton, we discovered DNA in Cold Spring Harbor, and we invented the MRI at Stony Brook. These days, Long Islanders are known more for our high taxes and serial killers than our many historic accomplishments. This has to change. We, as the public, must become more engaged with our home.
As a young professional on the Island, I find it disconcerting how many of my contemporaries are disengaged with policy on Long Island. It’s not a sleek, sexy or fun topic, but policy is an important arena that permeates through all 2.7 million people who live on Long Island. Policy directly impacts the water we drink, taxes we owe, stores we frequent and quality of life. Sound land use plans shape our landscape for decades. The decisions being made now will directly impact each and every one of you for most of your adult life. The end result of my generation’s complacency is that the important decisions that I’ve outlined above are now being made by stakeholders, civics and policymakers who are detached from us. While some have good intentions, policies are being crafted by an older generation that basically will outline where live and work.
For example, the Town of Brookhaven recently voted to approve a measure that will plan two community planning sessions in the next months, in an effort to save the Carmans River, and create a much needed multifamily housing code. In the end of a long, arduous dog and pony show, the Town essentially voted to plan a meeting, where the “community” can plan. Planning to plan is not true planning. Planning is the process in which goals are set, data is collected, and the best approach is chosen to reach those goals.
Supporters of this approach tout this as an exercise in “Community-Based” planning. I say they are half correct, and challenge policymakers in the Town to take it a step further. Instead of actively engaging civics, who are so engrained in the development process that they themselves just as much insiders that they vehemently oppose, why not engage citizens from across the board, across a variety of age groups? Honestly, I am tired of being the youngest person in the various meetings, and I am 25. Why not craft land use policies that will support those not only in the 55-64 demographic, but 18-25 as well? It is almost comical to hear person after person speaking about “housing for our fleeing youth” and the “need to stop the brain drain”, yet none of my generation are actually there to say what type of housing we want, or why they are choosing to leave the Island.
It is the job of government to conduct planning studies, with full participation by the public. By “public”, I do not mean the same citizens who participate in the process time and time again, but rather, a wider, more accurate representation of the community. Villages, Towns and the Counties on Long Island should visit colleges, universities, solicit households and consistently interface with its constituents, asking them what they would like to see in their community, and how land use policies should be made. The findings of such a study should be made approachable to the public, and serve as an input to the Planners, who then will use an on the ground inventory to create an assessment of what is surplus and needed in the community. The end result should be a plan that is both implementable by government and created by the people. This is not a hopeful and whimsical request, but a throwback to the way planning used to be conducted, back when planning to plan was unnecessary.
Richard Murdocco is a land use policy professional. Follow him on Twitter @TheFoggiestIdea. He lives in Setauket.
Thanks for writing. I find that increasing awareness of land use issues is the first step, paired with making the process both approachable/relevant to young people. For example, how will the developer provide housing for young professionals? What commercial office and retail opportunities are they offering to build for the recently graduated? Community meetings should be advertised on social media outlets, as should development and variance applications. Long story short, the symposiums on housing, planning and development that many groups host should be made available to the public as a whole, not the same cast of characters that attend these events monthly. -Rich
Ignoring it, suggests you are naive of what happens in Reality, or you are trying to sell us a "bill of goods" ! Tax payers live in REAL- VILLE !
They are resigned to the fact that in Brookhaven, they live in, for all intents and purposes, a Feudal State, here, where Corruption is institutionalized and generational. They know things "on the surface", are not what they seem, and ALL politicians are "For Sale", irrespective of their political parties and what they profess. Government Process is Kabuki Theater. Don't give us that "the political elites...often reflect the wants of their represented population"... ONLY a Political Elite would conclude that.
Thank you for being so active in voicing your views. Feel free to call me a "political elite". The fact remains that I am a policy professional who works in the field, and write based on what I see. The goal of my writing is to spread awareness on the land development process, and share my academic and professional experience with the general public. I feel that making information approachable and accessible to the public, (who often are understandably disengaged with the process) is the first step to crafting sound policy. Thanks for reading my piece- Rich
Depending on who you believe, it's not even "finalized" yet, even though it was formally presented to and accepted by the Town Board. You see it's not "finalized" IF commercial properties were being considered for "approval" by the Town for construction, and a certain Town Board member for the district wasn't collecting "campaign contributions". The reality of planning in Oz, is sometimes so far more fanciful a process, than it is in Brookhaven, by the time the processes of the "pilot fish" get their "taste".
Yeah can't trust that "mob"...after all, we are all stumbling around, ignorant, and needing The Political Elites to explain all these "complicated things" to us. We need someone who will personally benefit from a land transaction, to depend upon for that. Looking at the "patchwork quilt" that is now Brookhaven, we can see the wisdom of that opinion.
Please tell us how that is possible ? It's a neat trick.
It's the Way Of The World, but in Brookhaven the Corruption is so institutionalized, normal conventions get squashed when it comes down to Money and Politics. And the next generation has the same weaknesses as everyone else. This "astro turfing" by the Pine Barrens Society is an illustration in point. Here is the next generation getting in a plug about the Carmans River debacle...like we are to suspend our intellect and say it's something else. It's the same old game.
Rich, don't bother wasting your time trying to explain your "neat trick" of having your own opinions to "Matthew", he's a conspiracy theorist of the highest order. He's convinced EVERYTHING in this town is driven by campaign contributions, and EVERYONE in local government is in on the fix. As for his crap that more people don't get involved because they're "resigned to the fact that" Brookhaven is a corrupt "Feudal State" that can't be changed... I'm sure you recognize the ultimate cop-out of a chronic whiner that just wants to sit back and bitch & moan about the world around them. Don't let him get under your skin. BTW... nice to see an under 30 that remembers the Tomcat and recognizes it's impact and importance to LI. Bravo Zulu, young man.