Developers have big plans for Tall Grass Golf Course.

Tall Grass Properties LLC, along with TGC Operating Co., have jointly submitted a pre-application to the Town of Brookhaven, the first step in the process that would allow the combined 321 acre site to be master-planned into a mixed use project consisting of an array of homes, the creation of a village center, scenic vistas, publicly accessible parks, a ball field and open space and the preservation of the existing championship golf course.

The project, called Shoreham Village Center, would bring more than $100 million in benefits to the community. "We have worked with the community, evaluated all concerns and after numerous discussions we have developed a plan that is designed to balance competing interests," said the developers' attorney, Lawrence Feldman, of the Uniondale law firm Farrell Fritz P.C.

"What we have come up with is a plan that is the best alternative for the development of these two properties. The residual benefit to the community will be far reaching in terms of helping reduce the tax burden, preserving scenic vistas, creating parks and publicly accessible open space and providing much needed housing opportunities to a broad spectrum of people."

The planning document seeks a change from the current zoning for single-family homes on 40,000 s/f lots to a Planned Development District, or PDD, on what is now the Tall Grass Golf Club and the DeLalio Sod Farm on Route 25A.

According to the developers, the project would generate more than $3 million annually in tax revenues for the school district, compared with the $122,212 currently produced by the sod farm and golf course.

The PDD, say the developers, would result in a $278,025 annual surplus for the district in contrast to a $2.3 million annual deficit that would result from construction of a 283 single-family subdivision also proposed by the developer. Shoreham Village Center is projected to inject approximately 220 school children to the school system, compared with approximately 400 from the as-of-right subdivision, according to the documentation provided by the planning firm, Nelson Pope & Voorhis LLC.

Under the proposal, Tall Grass would fill the void in the community by developing 492 market-rate residential units which would be predominantly two- and three-bedroom homes.

The plan is designed so that the largest homes on the largest lots will be visible on the perimeter of the property, while mid-level and smaller homes will be sited at the core of the development. The community will be developed with a variety of housing styles and superior architecture.

The developers have responded to the Town and County's need for next generation/workforce housing and their plan calls for an additional 50 next generation/workforce housing units. Two hundred units would be market-rate housing designated for the 55-and-over population and another 25 units would be moderate income senior housing.

The existing golf course would be reconfigured and remain open to the public with reduced fees to Brookhaven residents. A sewage treatment plant which will be internal in the development is proposed for the site.