Riverhead balks at county plan to preserve South Jamesport land as open space

Suffolk County wants to preserve a nine-acre property in South Jamesport as open space, but risks losing the parcel if Riverhead does not agree to manage it.

The debate over open space acquisition versus farmland preservation broke out at a town board work session on April 30 during a discussion about 1161 Peconic Bay Blvd. This property lies adjacent to the East Creek boat launch parking area. It is also the Peconic Farms Minor Subdivision, which received preliminary approval last September for four residential building lots.

Concerns over management

In a press release shared Monday afternoon — signed by all town council members except Riverhead Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin — the board members explained their hesitations about the proposed preservation plan and the county’s request for the town to maintain this particular parcel.

Town officials worry that if they agree to management, Suffolk County could still dictate the actual improvements and uses of the property. There are also questions about exactly what the county intends to do with the property once preserved.

Town board members referenced past issues with Suffolk County over complex management responsibilities. Specifically, they spoke about the 11-acre Sharper’s Hill property acquisition in 2018.

Council members feared they would “agree to issue a blank check in an unknown amount for an unknown project.”

“The undersigned members of the Town Board expressed concern for an undisclosed County plan for either a park preserve, hamlet park or recreation park,” the statement said. “The concerns of the majority of the Town Board were related to costs of improvements and perpetual annual maintenance costs paid by taxpayers, be it general fund or Community Preservation Fund, and potential negative impacts related to quality of life.”

Doroski pushes for preservation

With pressure coming from the Suffolk County Legislature’s Environment, Parks & Agriculture committee for a decision on Monday, Legislator Greg Doroski urged the Riverhead Town Board at the eleventh hour on April 30 to reconsider the potential partnership with the county.

The former Southold councilman said the neighboring town spends up to $28,000 a year managing 640 acres of preserved land, which is roughly $46 an acre. These parcels are also mostly for passive recreation, such as walking paths and a modest parking area.

Overall, the county legislator said the deal offers a strong return on investment, strengthens environmental protection and quality of life — all at a potentially low cost for the town. As managers of the property, he stressed Riverhead would be in control of how it approaches passive recreation and management.

If they agreed to be the property managers, he suggested the town make minimal improvements, such as adding a looped walking trail and possibly up to three dirt parking spots. He estimated the management costs for these recreational additions would be less than $10,000.

If Riverhead Town uses just 1% of its Community Preservation Fund money to partner with Suffolk County on the acquisition, these CPF funds can go towards stewarding the property — meaning no tax increase, according to Mr. Doroski.

“I think particularly for this case in Riverhead where the county seems willing to spend about $2 million to acquire a parcel of land, that’s a huge ROI for Riverhead,” Mr. Doroski said. “If Riverhead Town is able to acquire a parcel of land and only have to spend a little bit of money on the town’s part — at least to me, that seems like a good investment.”

Town officials say no to county control

Town officials claimed in their press release Mr. Doroski “admitted a signficant deviation” from his previous statements. The legislator followed up with the town on Friday about his correspondence with Suffolk County officials. In an email, he wrote they “do not believe outright restrictions on parking can be written into the terms because it could be seen as prohibiting public access.”

Town officials said that position undercuts the “minimalistic approach” to land management within the county’s plan.

“The statement above underscores the Town Board member concerns and fear that the project will not be under the control of the Town,” town officials said. “The project could potentially morph into a project with significant costs to the Town, access or erode into access to our East Creek parking area, boat ramp and beach, increase of area traffic and intruding on the quite enjoyment of neighboring properties.”

Open space vs. farmland preservation

Councilwoman Joann Waski, who previously worked on this preservation deal with Mr Doroski’s predecessor Catherine Stark expressed fears of the property becoming a county park, which could attract overwhelming crowds of non-Riverhead residents to the small Jamesport area.

“This is prime farmland, this should be preserved as farmland — not open space, not a parking lot, not walking paths, not public access to everybody that lives in Suffolk County,” Ms. Waski said at the April 30 work session. “I would rather see this developed with five, $1 million homes, then see a parking lot and whatever else the intention could turn into down the road.”

Citing prior conversations with Ms. Stark, the town councilwoman said farmland preservation was always the intention for the property. However, Mr. Doroski confirmed Ms. Stark submitted the deal presented at the work session as open space. The land is also not eligible as farmland due to it not in active production, the legislator said.

Ms. Stark authorized an appraisal of the Peconic Farms, LLC property as open space under the Suffolk County Drinking Water Protection Program in September last year.

“It is not that we do not want to maintain your property, it’s just that we do not want this property to be opened up to all the residents of Suffolk County,” Ms. Waski later clarified to Mr. Doroski.

Town officials don’t want public access

The town originally slated the property for preservation by purchase of development rights in the 2021 Community Preservation Fund Project Plan to foster continued agricultural use.

Ms. Waski and her fellow councilmembers Kenneth Rothwell, Denise Merrifield and Bob Kern agreed in their joint letter if the owner is not a willing seller for purchase of development rights, or if farmland preservation is not possible, they will support preservation as open space. However, they request the land stay natural and without any public access or recreational improvements.

“The undersigned will support, by Town Board resolution, preservation of this parcel by County and/or combined County/Town as open space without park improvements, such as parking lots, trails, picnic tables, barbecues, playgrounds and instead keep this property natural without impacts to neighboring residents, restricting County residents from using and visiting our beaches, and eliminate perpetual costs to our taxpayers,” the town officials said.

Confusion over town pushback

As of Monday afternoon, no property owners on the other Suffolk County open space offers have responded. This gives the county another month to work matters out with Riverhead.

However, Mr. Doroski told the Riverhead News-Review on Monday evening he felt surprised by the response to this preservation deal. He called the deal a “home run” for Riverhead.

“The idea that this is going to become some hot spot is just not there,” the legislator said. “Those sort of suggestions, to me beg the question, what is the kind of the ulterior motive here?”

Riverhead Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin agreed the town needs to work with Suffolk County to come up with a plan for preservation.

“I don’t care who gets credit. I just want it to be preserved, and I don’t want to see it developed,” Mr. Halpin told the Riverhead News-Review on Monday evening. “My office has been inundated with calls and emails regarding this…neighbors and people throughout the community that want to see us preserve this piece of property.”