Brookhaven, NY Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)

Town Code § 85-167, adopted in 2016 under the Long Island Workforce Housing Act (General Municipal Law Article 16-A), applies to any change of zone, subdivision, resubdivision, site plan or mixed-use development proposing five or more residential lots or dwelling units. A minimum of 10% of the lots or units must be set aside as affordable or workforce housing, with at least half of that 10% designated affordable rather than workforce (§ 85-167A). In exchange, the applicant receives a density bonus over the otherwise-permitted development; in Multifamily Residence Districts the bonus is calculated from the actual density of development rather than the maximum density the code would otherwise allow (§ 85-167B).

The density bonus itself does not count toward the required 10% calculation (§ 85-167C(2)). An applicant who chooses a lower density than the maximum allowed is not subject to the set-aside at all (§ 85-167D). Instead of building on site, an applicant may ask the Town Board to approve an off-site location within the same school district (§ 85-167E), or may pay a fee equal to twice the HUD area median income for a family of four in Nassau-Suffolk Counties for each unit that resulted from the bonus, capped at the lot's appraised value (§ 85-167F).

Those fees go to the Commissioner of Housing and Human Services and into the Housing Trust Fund, which finances rehabilitation, down-payment assistance, land purchases and sewer connections, and can be shared with another Suffolk County municipality by intermunicipal agreement (§ 85-167F(1)-(2)). Units cannot be age-restricted unless the Town Board approves it, 30% of non-age-restricted units need two or more bedrooms, and builder's upgrades are barred (§ 85-167G). All affordable and workforce units carry covenants recorded with the Suffolk County Clerk restricting resale and rental (§ 85-167H).