Hamlet studies update Brookhaven Town's land use plan and have been completed in most other areas of the Town. This is the first time the Town has collaborated with one of its school districts to do a Hamlet Study. Brookhaven sent its planning consultant, Dr. Lee Koppelman, to guide this effort. New Directions brought faculty and students from SUNY Stony Brook's Department of Sociology and New York Institute of Technology's School of Architecture to work with local citizens on this study. A report of the findings was presented by the South Country Hamlet Study Committee to the Brookhaven Town Board in July 2004 to be used as local guidance for future land use decisions. For a report on public opinion obtained as part of the Hamlet study, see
South Country Survey.