Dan's Papers - May 30, 2008 - Closed for Business

Visiting the Amagansett Farmers Market was an experience that enriched the senses. The baked goods smelled and tasted great. Smartly packaged local jams and products looked wonderful. Touching and selecting fresh produce was a ritual, as the sounds of neighbors ordering morning coffee and chatting about local happenings filled the air. For many East Enders, it will be hard to accept that after 54 years, this sensory experience is coming to an end.

The Struk family is shutting down their Amagansett Farmers Market for good as they place the eight-acre spread in the hands of the Peconic Land Trust in exchange for millions. Although the final selling price hasn't been officially negotiated, Margaret De Cuevas of Amagansett has donated $5.4 million to the Town of East Hampton to help meet the Struks' price. One former customer from New York City quipped, "Based on the prices the Struks charged for their merchandise, I am sure the price they are selling to the Town is not a discounted one."

Today, it's bizarre to drive past the market on the north side of Route 27 and not see all the cars and usual activity. It will be a rude awakening for the summer rental crowd who used the market as a combination canteen, gathering place and destination on weekend mornings. While Town officials plan to open and operate a new farmers market in the building, it won't be soon - at least according to the blueprints of a deal that grants ownership of the market building to the Peconic Land Trust. In fact, chances are slim that the market will reopen this summer. It seems that sensitive, behind-the-scenes negotiations have been going on since last summer, when the Struk family threatened to sell to the highest bidder while the Town dragged its feet.

There's no doubt that the property is tremendously valuable. Many feel it's a great purchase for the Peconic Land Trust. Some wonder if the Struks would have received their price in current market conditions, considering that other choice properties had to be discounted for quick sales. All agree that regardless of price, the sale means the dislodging of another Hamptons brick-of-the-past as long-time families cash in. Tate King, owner of North Sea Farm for more than 60 years, plans to pass the property to his son in hopes that it remains a farm. Having spent most of his life without armfuls of ready cash, the 80-plus-year-old King knows that though the land outside his kitchen window might be worth millions, it's worth much more to him as his home. It will be interesting to see what becomes of Iacono Farm in East Hampton, following the recent passing of patriarch Salvatore Iacono.

For those families who decide to sell, it's somewhat reassuring to know that concerned neighbors who can help, do. To help meet the Struks' asking price, De Cuevas sold the development rights to 24 acres of her farmland to the Town of East Hampton for $4.4 million, and reportedly donated another $1 million, for a total of $5.4 million. Given the complexities of estate planning these days, we should thank De Cuervas for caring enough to step in and try to preserve such a sizable tract of land. Her actions may have prevented an enormous and unsightly development.

But what price will the Struk family finally get? Will it be premium, fair or discounted? The details have not yet been disclosed. The bad news is there will not be a farmers market in Amagansett this summer. The good news is that if all goes according to plan, in the future, another market will operate out of the same building.

Scott Wilson, Director of Land Acquisition for East Hampton Town, said that the deal is a good deal, and he hopes it gets done soon. So, while one tradition has died - that of visiting the Struk family's Amagansett Farmers Market and purchasing a piece of the Hamptons, canned, bottled or baked - a new one will eventually be born.