Two Anti-Development Groups Planning A Car Parade In Protest

EAST ISLIP, NY—Two community groups that coalesced to oppose zoning changes for East Islip and Sayville housing development proposals are joining forces for what they call "a car parade protest." The "Stop Island Hills Golf Course Development Plan" Facebook group has 2,300 members who discuss the Greybarn Sayville rental complex development proposal from Reichler Equity Partners. The "East Islip and Islips against Greenview Properties on Main and Bayview" Facebook group has over 1K members, formed in response to a proposal from Greenview Properties to create a 29-unit senior apartment complex on Montauk Highway and Bayview Ave. in East Islip.

The two groups overlap in their concerns, and organizers are joining forces for a planned protest on April 20. The "No Zone Change Car Parade Protest for Island Hills and Bayview Ave" will take place at 4:30 p.m. Protestors plan to decorate their cars with "no zone change signs" and end at Islip Town Hall before a 5:30 p.m. town board meeting.

John Tafe, one of the event organizers, told Patch that the protest has several goals, primarily "to show the town officials that our communities are still very much opposed to the zone changes at Island Hills and Bayview Ave. [and to] make the rest of our community aware of these possible zone changes and our opposition to them."

"The parade will also serve as an example of what traffic would be like with all the extra cars on the road from these developments. The Town of Islip has been less than transparent with our opposition groups and even has stopped public comment at the virtual town board meetings and that’s not right or okay," he said.