IDA Hearing Set For New Selden Senior Apartment Complex

SELDEN, NY — A large senior apartment complex may be coming to Selden. A public hearing has been set by the Town of Brookhaven IDA this Monday to discuss the proposal for Middle Country Meadows. The company has applied for IDA tax breaks to develop the almost 14-acre site at 1277 Middle Country Road.

There will be over 100 two-bedroom apartments for seniors aged 55 and over.

The public IDA hearing will be held virtually Monday at 10 a.m.

William Ferraro is a local community activist and Middle Country School Board member. He plans to attend the meeting and voice some of his concerns about the project.

"For starters, the gap between zoning approval and the IDA hearing for this project is 8 years. Communities change over time, and many of the people impacted by this project didn’t live here a decade ago to have had input on what is now an inevitable project. We’re giving serious tax breaks to a retirement community when there are already several in nearby zip codes, and it isn’t clear to me that the economic impact is worth the price," he told Patch.

Commenters online questioned if the units would remain 55-and-over long-term, citing examples of other development projects were the requirements were later loosened, skirting tax-base issues and school capacity concerns.

"Then you have the congestion concerns, adding a 124-unit development to the most dangerous strip of Middle Country Road where multiple fatalities and countless accidents have occurred over the years. As a school board member, I’m also worried about the potential for this community to change from 55 and over to adding families with children who will need to be enrolled in the district, which is normally fine if you’re deriving enough tax revenue. The developer would need six votes from the seven-member town board to be able to break the initial agreement, but considering that six members of the board represent the same party and consistently vote as a bloc, that’s not as difficult as it sounds,” added Ferraro.