Middle Island Starbucks enters home stretch of town approvals

The Starbucks planned for an empty Middle Island bank building is back on the Brookhaven Town Board’s agenda.

The board, sitting as the Planning Board, will hold a public hearing Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. on a site plan for the coffeehouse at 599 Middle Country Road, according to a town notice.

Starbucks seeks site plan approval, together with special permits, special permit waivers and variances for what would be its next drive-thru store in Suffolk. It is the latest step for a project that first reached Town Hall almost two years ago.

Town records show the application was filed Nov. 22, 2024. The proposal has already cleared two major hurdles.

In July 2025, the Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission approved a hardship application for the project, Greater Long Island reported.

The plan reuses the existing building and clears no new land. But the site sits in the Pine Barrens Compatible Growth Area, so it still counted as “development” under state law, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico said at the time.

In October last year, the town board voted 7-0 to approve a zone change from J Business 4 to J Business 5, along with a special permit for a major restaurant with a drive-thru. The zone change took effect Jan. 5, according to the town’s land use log.

In the neighborhood

The bank has been empty since about 2019. In the mean time, The Villas at Oak Run, a 55-and-older community, has risen behind it and is now leasing properties. A car wash sits right to the east of the property.

At the old bank property fronting Middle Country Road (aka Route 25), plans call for reusing the existing building and adding updated landscaping, awnings and other exterior improvements.

Even after site plan approval, the project would still need building permits before work can begin.

The proposed Middle Island store comes as Starbucks reshuffles its Long Island lineup. The chain closed locations in Islip, Commack and Greenvale in late September as part of a round of North American closures, Greater Long Island reported.

The Nov. 19 public hearing will be held in the second-floor auditorium at Brookhaven Town Hall, located at One Independence Hill in Farmingville. It will also stream live at BrookhavenNY.gov/meetings. Residents are invited to speak at the hearing.

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