Brookhaven Buys 17 Mastic Beach Properties To Preserve Wetlands

Brookhaven Town has approved the purchase of 17 properties in Mastic Beach for nearly $475,000, preserving approximately 3.5 acres of environmentally sensitive coastal land vulnerable to flooding and rising sea levels.

The Town Board authorized the acquisitions in June using money from the Joseph Macchia Environmental Preservation Capital Reserve Fund, established in 1998 to purchase wetlands, river corridors and other environmentally significant properties.

Several parcels along West Riviera Drive border Pattersquash Creek, a tidal waterway surrounded by marshland that helps filter stormwater runoff, absorb floodwaters and support wildlife. Additional properties are located along Beaver Road, Grove Road, Cypress Drive and Magnolia Avenue.

The purchases will prevent development on low-lying properties in a community that has repeatedly experienced flooding, coastal erosion and storm damage.

“It’s a beautiful community, but it has felt the effects of sea level rise,” Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico said.

The acquisitions represent “more parcels added to the Mastic-Shirley Conservation Area that will forever be wild for our environment and also keep the character of Mastic Beach,” Panico said.

Mastic Beach was developed largely during the 1920s as a summer retreat before evolving into a year-round community. Its proximity to coastal waterways, however, has left neighborhoods particularly exposed to flooding.

Superstorm Sandy inundated low-lying streets in 2012, highlighting the vulnerability of homes and infrastructure throughout the waterfront community.

Residents incorporated Mastic Beach as a village in 2010, partly to gain greater control over local development and waterfront planning. The village dissolved in 2016 amid financial pressures associated with maintaining roads, drainage systems and other municipal services.

Brookhaven officials have pursued additional preservation efforts throughout the surrounding marshlands. In July, the town announced a separate acquisition of three environmentally significant parcels near Beaver Drive and Forest Road East.

Those properties added approximately 25,000 square feet to an existing network of publicly protected wetlands.

By removing vulnerable parcels from potential development, town officials hope to strengthen natural flood protections while preserving open space and wildlife habitat along the South Shore.