Business

Sports East vows to provide affordable memberships

Sports East

The developers behind a proposed sports facility in Mattituck said gym-goers can choose between tiered memberships in order to maintain affordable options.

During the Southold Town’s Planning Board work session on Monday, Paul Pawlowski and Joe Slovak of Sports East said their goal is to provide affordable fitness services for local residents.

“We don’t have specific dollar amounts yet,” Mr. Pawlowski explained, “but the goal is to tier them … We’ll tier it in a way that it is affordable for every age group to join this club.”

For example, he said memberships will be available separately for tennis, swimming and soccer.

The partners said the facility would be similar to the Southampton Youth Services recreation center, known as SYS, which opened in 2003.



SYS is located more than 40 minutes from Mattituck. The nearest YMCA — after plans fell through to construct one in Calverton or Aquebogue — is in Patchogue. Suffolk Community College recently broke ground on an $18 million 48,000-square-foot public fitness facility at its Eastern Campus in Northampton, but that remains a work in progress and is still more than 30 miles away for some North Fork residents.

Mr. Slovak said Sports East would function as a community center.

“The concept is like a Y,” he said. “We will have some elite athletes there hopefully, but we also want seniors there using the pool and playing tennis.”

As for the configuration of the sports facility, Mr. Pawlowski said fields for loud sports such as tennis and soccer will be located closer to the road. Lighting for the outdoor fields isn’t included in the proposal, he added.

While hours of operation haven’t been finalized, Mr. Pawlowski said he believes the facility could be opened between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. A 32-seat healthy cafe for members is also planned for the facility, he said.

The indoor/outdoor fitness center is proposed on the same Main Road property where Mr. Pawlowski had previously proposed a mixed-use development and, before that, an affordable rental complex.

This time around, however, Mr. Pawlowski is not seeking a change of zone from Southold Town because the property’s existing residential zoning permits annual membership clubs with a special exception from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The Planning Board is expected to submit its comments to the Zoning Board of Appeals by Jan. 25.

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Photo: From left, Paul Pawlowski of Sports East and town planner Brian Cummings at Monday’s Planning Board work session. (Credit: Jen Nuzzo)