How Smithtown Sold out St. James: the Flowerfield overdevelopment story
- Jesse Phillips & Michael Catalanotto
- Aug 22, 2025
- 4 min read
The story of the Gyrodyne property in St. James is a decade-long saga of a community fighting to preserve its character against a powerful developer—a fight they are losing because the Smithtown Town Board consistently sided with special interests over residents. It is the ultimate example of the reckless development we promise to stop.
What Is Gyrodyne and What’s Happening?
The Gyrodyne Company of America once operated on a 75.6-acre parcel in St. James, a area known as Flowerfield. This land, nestled on a quiet, country road, is one of the largest remaining undeveloped tracts on Long Island's North Shore.
Despite immense community opposition for years, the property is now being subdivided and sold for a massive, high-density development. As reported by Long Island Business News:
"B2K buys 49 acres of Gyrodyne’s Flowerfield for new development" (LIBn, Aug. 2025)
The approved plan, as detailed in the Town's own Findings Statement, allows for:
A 100,000-square-foot medical complex.
A 100,000-square-foot hotel and conference center.
A 50,000-square-foot "assisted living facility."
A sewage treatment plant.
This is not suburban revitalization; it is the industrialization of a historic, rural area.
How the Smithtown Town Board Paved the Way
This project did not happen by accident. It was made possible by a series of actions (and failures to act) by our Town Board.
1. Granting Preliminary Subdivision Approval.The Town Board, under its current leadership, provided the crucial green light. A PR Newswire release from 2022 confirms:
"Gyrodyne Receives Preliminary Subdivision Approval for Flowerfield Property"
This approval was the key that unlocked the entire development process, signaling to the courts and the community that the Town was in favor of the project.
2. Fighting for Developers in Court, Not Residents.When community groups like the Saint James - Head of the Harbor Neighborhood Preservation Coalition sued to stop the project based on its flawed environmental review, the Town Board was not on the residents' side.
As TBR News Media reported:
"Opposition grows as court approves Gyrodyne environmental review"
The Town's approval was a central factor the courts relied on to dismiss community challenges. The board’s actions effectively neutered the legal power of residents to fight back.
3. Ignoring a Decade of Vocal Opposition.This is not a new fight. For over a decade, residents have been screaming into a void at Town Hall.
2017: Long Island Press reported on "Homeowners Resist[ing] Development Plan at Historic Flowerfield."
2024: LIBn noted that a "Court Upholds 75-Acre Flowerfield Subdivision Approval," an approval granted by the Town Board.
2025: Opposition continues, but the development moves forward because the Town's approvals are already locked in.
The consistent, unanimous votes of the current board have consistently favored the developer's bottom line over the clear will of the people.
The Impact on St. James and All of Smithtown
The consequences of this failure in leadership are severe and will be felt for generations:
Traffic Nightmare: Thousands of new car trips will be dumped onto quiet, narrow roads like Route 25A and Moriches Road that were never designed for such volume.
Strained Infrastructure: Our sewer systems, water quality, and emergency services will be pushed to their limits.
Lost Character: The rural, historic charm of St. James—a primary reason people choose to live and raise families here—is being bulldozed for concrete and corporate profit.
Environmental Risk: Building a massive sewage treatment plant and paving over green space poses a direct threat to the local ecosystem and water supply.
Our Pledge: A New Approach to Development
Michael Catalanotto and Jesse Phillips are running to ensure there is never another Flowerfield. We will change the culture of development in Smithtown by:
Prioritizing Community Master Plans: We will work with every hamlet to create plans that codify what residents actually want—preserving suburban charm, limiting building height and density, and protecting green space. Development must conform to the community's vision, not a developer's spreadsheet.
Championing True Environmental Review: We will end the practice of rubber-stamping waivers for major projects. We will insist on the fullest, most transparent environmental reviews (Full SEQR) to force developers and the public to honestly confront the impacts on traffic, schools, and water before a vote, not after.
Being a Voice for Residents in Court: When a development is approved against the will of the community, we will respect the right of residents to challenge it. We will not use town resources to side with developers against our own taxpayers in court.
Preserving History, Not Paving It: We will explore using every tool available—including historic preservation grants and community preservation funds—to protect vulnerable historic properties and open spaces from being lost forever to reckless overdevelopment.
The story of Flowerfield is a stain on Smithtown and a warning of what’s to come if we don’t change leadership. We are committed to learning from this failure and fighting for a Smithtown where development serves residents, not the other way around.
Sources: To ensure full transparency, here are the sources that document this story:
Long Island Business News: B2K Buys Flowerfield Acreage (Aug. 2025)
TBR News Media: Opposition Grows as Court Approves Environmental Review
Town of Smithtown: Gyrodyne Subdivision Findings Statement (Official Town Document)
Saint James - Head of the Harbor Neighborhood Preservation Coalition
Long Island Business News: Court Upholds Subdivision Approval (Oct. 2024)
Long Island Press: Homeowners Resist Development Plan (2017)
PR Newswire: Gyrodyne Receives Preliminary Subdivision Approval (2022)
Share this post. The first step to stopping the next Flowerfield is understanding how it happened.
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