Civic ‘Blue Ribbon Panel’ convenes on land preservation

Whether it’s discussions of agri-tourism resorts, farming or development, Riverhead Town has remained at the center of the land preservation debate for years — and the topic has created some divisions. But the Greater Jamesport Civic Association hopes its latest initiative can unite the community and its leaders and ultimately lead to actionable solutions.

The Blue Ribbon Panel for Preservation is a group of 12 volunteer professionals and public officials tasked with collaborating to tackle land use and preservation challenges in Riverhead, on the North Fork and across the East End. The inaugural panel members are: Robert DeLuca, president, Group for the East End; Riverhead Supervisor Tim Hubbard; Riverhead Councilwoman Denise Merrifield Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski; Kevin McDonald, conservation project director for public lands at The Nature Conservancy of Long Island; Kevin McAllister, founder and president, Defend H2O; Juan Micieli-Martinez, president, Long Island Farm Bureau; Janice Scherer, Southampton Town planning and development administrator; Phil Schmitt, farmer/owner, Schmitt Family Farm; Laura Jens-Smith, president, Greater Jamesport Civic Association; Suffolk County Legislator Catherine Stark; and Julie Wesnofske, senior project manager, Peconic Land Trust.

Ms. Jens-Smith said the group began meeting in October and will continue to convene monthly to review preservation tools used in the past by area towns including Riverhead and Southold. She said they will also look at the recommendations included in Riverhead’s 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update, consider new ideas and explore potential funding sources. 

“During the [Comprehensive Plan Update], Tim Hubbard and a couple of the other board members had said, ‘If somebody wants to give us other ideas … ,’ ” Ms. Jens-Smith said. “That’s where [the panel] came from, we were just thinking: How can we present ideas and what would be the best way to do it?”

Civic association vice president Steve Green, she noted, was “instrumental” in choosing who would serve on the panel. Many of the volunteers are members of well-established groups and experts heavily involved in the stewardship of open space and farmland in the community. 

Some of the suggestions the panel has discussed to date and wants to bring forward include finding a dedicated land preservation manager for Riverhead Town, identifying “priority properties” for preservation and exploring ways the town can secure funding to purchase that land. 

These ideas are still in their early stages, Ms. Jens-Smith said, but she noted that Supervisor Hubbard and other town officials have been engaged and are receptive to working together on these objectives to achieve the preservation goals, while also taking into consideration the potential regional impacts of the proposals. 

The civic president said she hopes these ideas come to fruition and the town is willing to implement them in the future. 

“Riverhead’s a beautiful place, so there’s a lot of pressure for development. I think one of the biggest issues is time,” she said. “If we had all the time in the world to preserve the land, that would be wonderful, but I think, with the growing pressure of people wanting to move out to Riverhead and the North Fork, that there is an increased pressure on the farmlands and open space to be developed.”