Dan's Papers - September 26, 2008

In Baiting Hollow, just a few miles west of Riverhead, another slice of Long Island's way of life has been preserved. Development rights to the 58-acre Warner Nursery property on Sound Avenue were purchased by the county and the Town of Riverhead.

Long Island, once an area dominated by farming and fishing industries, fell into a long period of heavy development after WWII, with wide and long swaths of commercial sprawl, and dense residential bedroom communities clustered over what had been forested areas and farmland. Eventually, the cry could be heard across the land, "Just what we need, another development."

To stave off a development stampede, Suffolk County created the Farmland Preservation Program in 1977. The goal was to save not only the bucolic vistas that South Fork residents prize, but actual working farms by purchasing development and/or agricultural rights from the farmers themselves, thus avoiding their sale to developers. Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) allows the owners to continue to farm the land themselves or lease it, prevents any type of non-agricultural structures to be built or placed on the property, and assures that the property can never be used for any other purpose but farming. Since the program began, Suffolk has amassed development rights to 9,334 acres of farmland. More than 5,300 acres of that are in Riverhead. In other East End towns, 227 acres of farmland have been preserved in East Hampton, 154 in Southhold, 71.25 in Southampton, and 50 in Shelter Island.

Some have criticized the program as favoring points north and west, rather than the South Fork, but there are valid reasons for that focus.

"One of the main goals of the program is to make the agricultural industry more viable by insuring that you still have active farms on the island. You have a critical mass in Riverhead and Southhold, where there is a greater amount of active farms," said Carrie Meek Gallagher, Commissioner of Environment and Energy for Suffolk County. Gallagher pointed out that, for a farm to be considered, it has to have been active within the last two year, not one that has been left fallow.

Gallagher pointed to obvious reasons why fewer farms have been saved in the Hamptons. "There's much more development on the South Fork, and the land is more expensive," she said. "Also, we're seeing competition between the Farmland Program and individuals who will pay a higher price for development."

It can be argued that much if not most of the farmland on the South Fork is valued more for aesthetics than practicality. After all, homes with farm vistas are advertised like properties with water views, both commanding higher prices. But with the Farmland Preservation Program looking for a greater bang for the buck and for maintaining an industry, the South Fork has had to rely on other means for preserving its gentleman farmer character. Enter the Community Preservation Fund, which has been used to preserve land and structures at 100% of the cost, as well as being a part of many joint ventures on the South Fork among the town, county, and state.

According to Scott Wilson, Director of Land Acquisitions for the Town of East Hampton, "The only farmland purchase of development rights that I am familiar with as a partnership [with the county] is Damiecki on Long Lane [near Route 114 in East Hampton]. That was around 30 acres for $3.5 million." Wilson recalled that the cost breakdown was "probably 50/50," between county and town. Beyond that, the county's program has not been directed toward the preservation of farms in the Hamptons very often. "The Town of East Hampton has very little farmland in comparison with other townships, and therefore we receive very little...a proportionate share of funding for this purpose," wrote Wilson in an e-mail to Dan's Paper. "However, the county has helped us acquire a number of projects in the last two to three years ... Off the top of my head, Dodge, Filippelli, Ross School, Weisz, Amsterdam Beach, with Boys Harbor and Cavett in the works. That's around 350 acres in partnership for open space."

Gallagher clarified that the Boys Harbor parcel was funded through the county's Multifaceted Preservation Program, and Cavett was a three-way split, among the county, state and town.

The cost of the Warner property development rights was $5.2 million, split 70/30 between Suffolk County and the Town of Riverhead. The purchase adds up to a total of 563 contiguous acres of farmland in the Riverhead area. The Nursery, which will continue to be used by the family as a tree and nursery stock farm, is the 188th parcel added to the roster since the program began 40 years ago. It is also the 50th preserved in the county under the watch of County Executive Steve Levy, whom we salute with the rallying cry, "Just what we need, another farm."