At its July 2 work session, the Southold Town Board discussed potential plans for the Mattituck intersection previously proposed for a Brinkmann Hardware store.
The board is mulling ways to make the intersection of Main Road and New Suffolk Avenue safer for pedestrians.
Brinkmann Hardware Corp. had planned to build a 20,000-square-foot store at the site. The application came under scrutiny over environmental and traffic concerns and the project was stopped by a series of six-month development moratoriums first enacted in 2019. In September 2020, the town voted to initiate an eminent domain proceeding against property owners Ben and Hank Brinkmann in order to create a community park at the site.
Eminent domain refers to the power of a government entity to purchase private property for public use.
A 2021 lawsuit by the Brinkmann brothers alleged that the town’s park plans were a “pretext” to stop them from opening the store, and claimed the town violated their Fifth Amendment rights by taking property to benefit another private entity without a justifying public purpose. A federal court judge dismissed the Brinkmanns’ lawsuit in September 2022, which they appealed. In December 2022, state Supreme Court Judge John Leo ruled that the town’s rights under eminent domain to seize the 1.75acre property were appropriate. In March 2024, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also found that Southold Town had properly acquired the property using eminent domain. Attorneys for the Brinkmann family will petition for the state to hear an appeal in the case.
Southold town attorney Paul De-Chance gave an update on the litigation at the July 2 work session.
“The litigation was dealt with and the ability of the town to condemn the property was upheld,” Mr. DeChance said. “We have, at this point, paid the former owner the full amount of our assessed value of the parcel … there’s litigation in state Supreme Court about the value of the parcel, because their appraisal is higher than ours, so if the [state] supreme court takes the case, the issue could remain unresolved for quite some time. If they don’t take it, then the case is deemed finalized.”
Board member Anne Smith wants to make sure the property is included in the town’s upcoming zoning update.
“It does have to fit into a larger context of the walkability, not just from that corner across and Love Lane but all the way down to the CVS and back,” she said. “There’s a lot of conversation about how that should look and how zoning changes can support something that we really want.”
Board member Jill Doherty suggested clearing part of the currently wooded area and putting a bench there to signal to the public that the town now owns the property. She said Southold could start doing work to “prepare for a future sidewalk.”
Mr. DeChance confirmed that the property is currently deeded in the town’s name and that this is something the town can act on.
“I don’t think it hurts to talk about the town’s intentions,” Mr. DeChance said.
Ms. Smith referenced efforts by the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association to explore best uses for the parcel, which included traffic studies and more research that had “a lot of really good ideas on how to make it safe,” Ms. Smith said.
The community group spoke with multiple stakeholders, including nearby churches and North Fork Community Theatre, and hosted round tables in compiling their recommendations. “We weren’t flying uneducated, if you will,” association founder Mary Eisenstein said in an interview. “We were using studies that had put forth recommendations for Main Road. From our perspective, we thought that having a park on that property would give Mattituck an emotional heart center because unlike the other hamlets, which have parks, we do not. One of the things that we were are concerned about is the industrialization of Mattituck and that’s why that property was a main focus for us.”
Ms. Smith cautioned that she doesn’t want to confuse the public on how quickly the town can make these changes happen and reiterated they will be part of the conversation surrounding broader zoning updates.
The next Town Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 16.