In 2015, Sayville’s Island Hills golf course closed.

Since then, the 114-acre property has been dormant.

Developers Gregg and Mitchell Rechler have tried again and again to bring it back to life, presenting plans for vibrant housing developments, complete with attractive renderings and promises of tax revenue and community benefits.

Still, no shovel has ever entered ground. Instead, words have filled the air. Residents have filled raucous town hall meetings, posted on angry social media forums and crowded civic association meetings. County, town and planning officials have stood alongside them, rejecting or ignoring every proposal.

The years of tumult culminated in a 5  ½ hour Islip Town Planning Board meeting last July.

A roundup of highlights from Newsday's Opinion Department.

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“How many versions of ‘No’ do all of you need to hear before you start to listen to us?” one resident asked that night.........

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