[UPDATE: Island Green Golf Center has closed.]
Part of the attraction of the Island Green Golf Center in Selden is its Long Island-themed miniature-golf course, with holes designed around local icons like the Montauk Lighthouse, Vietnam Memorial and the Big Duck. Oddly, none of the holes require putts through the front door of a condominium.
The distinctive pings of crisply struck drivers might soon be replaced by the rumble of bulldozers and the groan of neighborhood protests, depending on the Town of Brookhaven's decision regarding a zoning change at the site of Island Green's driving range and mini-golf course.
Newsday reported Monday that the owners of the Selden facility are seeking a zoning change from business to multifamily residential to pave the way for condominium construction on the 14-acre site. At a public hearing on Tuesday, it was revealed that no matter the Town's decision, Island Green's golfing future will likely be swallowed up by financial high tides.
The facility, decorated with Long Island landmarks and including a driving range, opened in 1996 and has been losing money for years, a lawyer for the facility's owners told a Brookhaven Town Board public hearing Tuesday night. ...
"One way or another, this will be the last season for the driving range," attorney David Sloan said at the hearing at town hall in Farmingville. -- Sophia Chang, Newsday, 5/25/11
Following a Long Island tradition as deeply ingrained as, well, the conversion of underutilized space into condos, some of Island Green's neighbors criticized the plan citing traffic concerns and potential disruption of the peace.
For now, the 76-stall driving range remains open. Local golfers won't have to go far once the facility goes dark -- the ranges at the Mill Pond, Pine Ridge and Spring Lake golf courses are only a few minutes away.
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