"Momentous': Town Wins Eminent Domain Battle Over Hardware Store Plan

NORTH FORK, NY — After a battle that's spanned years and ignited a public outcry, plans for a hardware store on a parcel of land that sites at the entrance to Mattituck seem to be permanently shelved.

According to Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski, who sent out a statement on the ongoing lawsuit between the Brinkmanns and the Town of Southold: "I am pleased to report that on Monday, October 21, 2024, the United States Supreme Court issued a summary disposition of this case, which declined Brinkmann’s request to hear the appeal of Hank and Ben Brinkmann, forever concluding their protracted legal battle with the Town of Southold."

The supervisor added: "The Brinkmann brothers sought to overturn lower federal court rulings, alleging that Southold violated the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The Supreme Court's decision not to grant a writ of certiorari effectively ends the Brinkmann’s pursuit to build a big-box hardware store at 12500 Main Road, Mattituck."

The proposed store, Krupski said, "faced strong public opposition due to its location in a congested area of downtown Mattituck which comprised the last remaining green space in the area. This lawsuit is now over and Southold’s right to determine the fate of its community has been upheld."

Krupski said the news signaled "a momentous outcome for the Town of Southold and specifically the hamlet of Mattituck."

The parcel, he said, lies within the heart of the town and will forever remain natural and undisturbed, open to the use, recreation and enjoyment of residents.

"Brinkmann’s proposed development plan would have negatively affected the character of this area, to the detriment of our residents, and would have exacerbated traffic congestion at this already overburdened intersection," Krupski said.

Represented by the non-profit Institute for Justice, the Brinkmann brothers, Krupski said, "argued that the town's plan to convert the property into a park was a pretext to block their business venture, infringing their Fifth Amendment rights. The Supreme Court's decision upholds lower court rulings that a government taking is justified if it serves a reasonable public purpose and provides just compensation."

The supervisor said that alhough the substantive legal battle is over, an appeal remains regarding a federal magistrate's decision requiring the Brinkmanns to pay "substantial" attorney’s fees and costs to the town.

Former Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said he plans to urge the town board to name the new park the "Ruland-Tillman Park" in honor of William Ruland and Art Tillman.

Ruland, a longtime farmer and Deputy Town Supervisor, died in 2020; Tillman, former Southold Town Democratic Party chair, died in 2019.

"These two men dedicated themselves to the service of the commuhnity. They were both deeply committed to the residents and volunteered so much of their time in service of others. They also set the example for integrity and honor," Russell said. "Our challenge is to make this park a showcase so it's worthy of carrying the name of two truly great men."

Speaking with Patch about the decision, Ben Brinkmann said he was "very disapppointed" that the matter was not taken up by the court and that the decision "could not have been closer," with Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanauh in favor of moving forward. "We were only one short. We needed four," Brinkmann said. "It hurts that it was that close."

Of the town's decision to pursue eminent domain, Brinkmann said it was "pretty scary" that the town board was able, with four votes "take our property. Now the court has set a precedent. Four people can get together and take your home, your commercial property — as long as they plan to put a park on it. It's pretty scary."

He added: "I think everyone lost. My family lost. The taxpayers of Southold certainly lost, as well."

However, Brinkmann said his family recently opened their largest and most successful location to date in Glen Cove. "We are undeterred," he said. "We pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and march forward."

Brinkmann said they will continue to look for properties in Southold. The goal was always to merge the family's Jamesport paint store with a hardware store in Southold. "Every single town we've opened in, the residents are thankful to have us. I think the residents of Southold would have been, too, given the opportunity. But they were not given that opportunity."

The Institute for Justice was not immediately available for comment.

After years of public outcry, in 2022, Southold Town won a battle to maintain the parcel of land in Mattituck where the controversial proposal for a hardware store had residents seeing red — and a judge ordered that the title of land be vested to the town.

According to a decision by New York State Supreme Court Judge John J. Leo signed Dec. 14, 2022, the title to the parcel located at 12500 Main Road in Mattituck was vested to Southold Town. And at that point, the legal battle had come to an end, former Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said at the time.

Russell spoke out about the decision, which came after years of pleading by residents to preserve what many consider a gateway to the North Fork; others cried out about traffic and other dangers posed by the hardware store plan.

"I am happy that it's over so we can start developing a park that will help define the Mattituck community," Russell said. "It is frustrating that when there are legal proceedings underway, we can’t comment to provide a complete picture."

However, now that all legal issues had been resolved, Russell said it was important to make certain points absolutely clear: "The county and the town had been negotiating with the previous owner long before the Brinkmanns purchased the property. It was clear to all sides before they bought it that the intentions of Suffolk County and Southold Town were to preserve it and create a community pocket park and had been negotiating with the previous owner in good faith."

After the Brinkmanns bought the parcel, Russell added, "We reached out to work with them. We offered to purchase it from them for far more than they had paid for it and offered to expedite and streamline any review of an application should they find a different location. We were unable to."

The legal battle raged for years.

Residents turned out in droves over past years to protest the new proposed location of Brinkmann's Hardware, which they said could pose traffic, environmental, and safety concerns.

The town acquired the parcel by eminent domain, which means that a government entity can appropriate a private parcel for public use, while compensating the owners for the land.

The decision said that the title to the property, located at the corner of Route 25 and New Suffolk Avenue would be vested to the Town of Southold. The town was ordered to pay the Brinkmann family for the parcel; the Brinkmanns had four months to file a written notice of claim.

The decision followed years of public debate: In 2021, a judge rendered a court order stating that a motion for preliminary injunction made by the Brinkmann family in a federal lawsuit against Southold Town had been denied.

In addition, the judge stated, the Brinkmanns "have waived their right to challenge" Southold Town's public use determination.

The Brinkmann family had hoped to build a hardware store on the property but the community came together at public hearings to oppose the plans, citing safety and quality of life concerns.

Southold Town and Suffolk County officials had long expressed interest in developing the land as a park.

In 2020, a virtual public hearing was held on the possibility of Southold Town seizing the land through eminent domain.

Brinkmann's Hardware has locations in Sayville, Blue Point, Holbrook and Miller Place, as well as a paint store in Jamesport. Their plan was to open a new paint and hardware store at the Mattituck intersection.

A judge, in past years, ruled in favor of the Brinkmann family, who believed they had seen their efforts thwarted by a moratorium imposed by Southold Town.

Southold Town extended the moratorium in question a number of times.

Litigation was commenced by Brinkmann Hardware Corp., which filed an Article 78 against Southold Town over a moratorium enacted in February, 2019; the suit maintained that while the town said the moratorium was enacted to temporarily put the brakes on the issuance of approvals and permits on Main Rd. in Mattituck while an expanded corridor study, weighing traffic impacts and other concerns, was underway — "the true purpose" of the moratorium "was to prevent them from building their hardware store."

The suit asked the court to declare the moratorium, a local law, "unconstitutional, null and void."

Supreme Court Justice Hon. William Ford denied Southold Town's request for dismissal.

At the 2020 hearing, Hank Brinkmann, a partial owner of the property said: "I am vehemently opposed to the town's taking of my family's property."

He said if the true motive was a public park, the town would buy the parcel directly adjacent to his, which is currently for sale.

Ben Brinkmann agreed "We are only asking to exercise our property rights."

Brinkmann said his family hired a local architect and reached out to the community to work together and be open about plans. He added that even the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association did not endorse eminent domain.

Then-Suffolk County Legislator Krupski had said the county was still willing to partner with the town for preservation for that corner. "That offer is still certainly on the table for preservation," he said.

Dr. Anne Smith of the MLCA said the group supported the idea of keeping the parcel, "the last green corner," as parkland for the benefit of the community and visitors. Keeping the land as a park would help with pedestrian safety, the walkability of Main Road and the hamlet center, and create a village green.

The civic did not take a position on the issue of eminent domain.

But, she said, that corner of Main Road and New Suffolk Avenue should be "welcoming."

Denise Geis, who lives in Mattituck, said preserving the land as a public park would help to keep the rural character of the area intact. "Preserving this piece of property is very important in our town," she said.

John Carter of the MCLA, gave a timeline of meetings held with the Brinkmann family as well as work the civic has done to address traffic, pedestrian safety, density, environmental impacts, and the need for a village green.

In 2018, he said, the town and county teamed up to purchase the parcel and the town made a fair market offer to BNB; the MLCA sent letters of support. But in December, 2018, BNB sold the property to the Brinkmann property, he said.

A "path that is most protective of Mattituck's health, safety and environment is the path that includes a village green on the last green corner," Carter said.

Mark Haubner, vice president of the North Fork Environmental Council said a traffic study in the town's newly completed comprehensive plan, listed the intersection of New Suffolk Avenue and Main Road as one of the "top 5 most dangerous intersections" in town.

Should the land be preserved, the NFEC, which is located on property adjacent to the parcel, would work with the MLCA on management and maintenance of the park, he said.

Not everyone who spoke supported eminent domain.

Developer Paul Pawlowski, whose plan for Sports East in Mattituck were derailed in in September, 2017, when the Southold Town zoning board of appeals rendered a decision on the plan, upholding a notice of disapproval and putting the brakes on the proposed facility in Mattituck, expressed his feelings against eminent domaine.

Pawlowski said while he understands the MLCA's vision, he found it "interesting" that when there was "plenty of opportunity for recreation" in Mattituck, none of the studies mentioned Tuesday, calling for recreational opportunities in the hamlet, had ever been brought up.

Also, he said, moratorium do "nothing" to achieve any of the town's goals. "Zero," he said.

"When you buy or sell property, we all have to live by a playbook and that playbook is our town code. The moratorium threw that playbook out. This eminent domain argument threw that playbook out. Eminent domain is not the way to go," Pawlowski said at the hearing.

Others spoke out firmly against development on the land.

A woman who identified herself as just Tami, from Mattituck, spoke out: "Quite frankly, Mr. Brinkmann, you are not wanted here. . . You are not from here and you don’t know what it’s like to be from here. That place with green trees that you see as a worthless parcel is priceless to us."

"Eminent domain is not a choice that is taken lightly," said Bill Toedter, past president of the NFEC. "That's attested to by the very few times such an action has been taken. But in this situation, when the community's voice, options to compromise, negotiations, and even offers to purchase at above market price have been ignored, it leaves no other option to protect the community and the integrity of the master plan that has been years in the making."

Charles Gueli, also past president of the MLCA, said property rights come with "constrictions," to protect the greater good of the community. "Southold Town should vote for the public good over the property rights of one owner."

A crowd of irate residents packed the Mattituck Presbyterian Church in 2017, waiting their turn to speak out for two hours against the proposal for the new hardware store that they said could cause major traffic concerns — and prove deadly for pedestrians.

Three representatives of the Brinkmann family had asked the MLCA if they could come to discuss the proposal. Siblings Mary Neimeth and Hank and Ben Brinkmann, as well as architect Ray Nemschick, were onhand for a presentation and question and answer session.

"It's clear we're not happy about your large store coming into our small community," Elise Martini said. "Do you really care? Will that change your mind? Does this change anything about the way you feel?"

"We wouldn't be here if we didn't care," Brinkmann said, adding they requested the meeting by choice, to speak to the community.

Brinkmann said they looked for more than a year for the spot. "We didn't just land on that corner. We had to find a site that met all the requirements. We've done extensive work," he said.

Others said the addition would mean traffic backed up for miles, especially during pumpkin season when traffic is already an issue.

"Do any of you live out here?" Angela McKenna asked.

The Brinkmanns said they are all from the Bayport and Sayville areas.

"You have to understand our anger is larger than you and you are kicking a hornet's nest that is already in this community," one resident said. "It's the location you have chosen that's the problem."