March 2, 2013

An Open Letter to the Manorville Community:

Dear Community Members,

We’ve recently learned that the Hess Corporation is in contract to purchase the Michelangelo’s property on

County Route 111 in Manorville and that they intend to apply for a change of zoning that would allow them to

build a gas station and a convenience store on the property. This parcel of land is located in the Pine Barrens Core

Preservation Area which means the acquisition has the potential to significantly impact the quality of our

environment and the character of our rural community. It’s impossible to overstate the potential environmental

impact of building a gas station in the Pine Barrens core. The aquifers located in this region provide nearly all of

Long Island’s drinking water, and there are over a hundred birds and other species many of which are becoming

endangered. Burying a few 10,000 gallon gasoline tanks in the most ecologically sensitive and highly protected

land on Long Island is an invitation for disaster. Should one of those tanks begin to leak the effects on our region

would be catastrophic.

Since this parcel of land pre-dates the Pine Barrens Act it can be developed under the current zoning even though

it’s in the core. The existing zoning would allow for another food establishment which seems to be the most

logical choice. Manorville has very few restaurants so a family-friendly business located on the site would fill an

important need for our community. With ‘Hurricane Grill and Wings’ opening just across the street, and the

Peconic Bay Medical Center Campus rapidly taking shape, a new restaurant could help to create a real community

center the likes of which Manorville residents have craved for some time. Furthermore, there is already a gas

station across the street at 7-Eleven and a Mobil station just a few feet away on the corner of Bauer Avenue. We

have no need for a third. Some have argued that adding a gas station on the opposite side of the road from the

existing ones would be convenient for travelers and calm traffic created by vehicles turning across the highway.

While this may be partially true, Manorville is more than a pit-stop for Hamptons-bound travelers. This parcel of

land should be a place where Manorville families can meet and make memories, not just a convenient rest stop for

travelers on their way to somewhere else.

This issue is also bigger than this one application for development. Manorville’s open space is our community’s

most precious resource. We must have a clear and compelling vision for how we want to develop, or not

develop, that space. With local government officials increasingly influenced by lobbyists for developers the

responsibility to craft a vision for what we want our community to look like falls to us as residents. All across

Long Island there are examples of communities that were developed without that kind of vision and community

input and the result is suburban sprawl, blight, and overcrowding. As the development of Long Island progresses

to the East it is only a matter of time before we find our own community a target for this kind of

overdevelopment. We need to have a plan to pre-emptively address those concerns before it’s too late. We

cannot allow our community to be developed without our input or consent. A gas station in the Pine Barrens

would almost certainly catalyze a slippery slope that could threaten our open spaces and local environment.

It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time Hess has attempted to build in the Pine Barrens. Ten years ago, in

2003, they attempted to build on another piece of land just north of the current site. Our community successfully

fought that proposal and we can do it again. It’s not too late. Representatives of the Hess Corporation will be

attending the Manorville Chamber of Commerce meeting being held this Tuesday, March 5th, at JC’s Restaurant in

Manorville to gauge community sentiment. The meeting begins at 7:00pm and it is essential that as many

residents as possible attend. I will be at the meeting to voice my opposition to this proposal and I encourage each

of you to do the same. We need to make it clear to Hess that our community will not tolerate this kind of

senseless plundering of our natural resources. We have a vision for Manorville, but it’s going to take all of us to

make that vision a reality.

I hope to see you there,

Jonathan A. Cohen

Manorville, NY