Plan for ‘Jamesport State Park’ would impose new restrictions

State plan for ‘Jamesport State Park’ includes name change, restrictions on equestrian uses and beach access

First, they’ll change the name.

The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has seen the error of its ways in initially calling its Soundfront park north of Hallockville “Jamesport State Park.” The master plan developed by the agency recommends renaming the park “Hallock State Park Preserve.”

Local residents who attended a public hearing on the master plan favored the name change. As Valerie Scopaz, former Southold Town planner said, “Jamesport was the name that was given to this land by a developer who wanted to create something that wasn’t here, a port. He wanted to mine this land and create a port. It’s important to honor the community’s heritage and history.” For that reason, Socpaz said, “Hallock is the appropriate name.”

Others among the group that filled the Naugles Barn at the Hallockville Musuem Farm for Tuesday night’s public hearing on the master plan for the park echoed that sentiment. But most of the attendees, members of the East End Livestock and Horseman’s Association, came to the public hearing to express their concern about the plan’s recommendations to limit equestrian use of park trails and ban it altogether on the beach.

And members of the East End Surf Fishing Club attended to express their concern that regulations governing use of the new park would ban driving on the beach.

Under the draft plan, horseback riding within the park would be limited to designated trails within the park, only during spring and fall and only by state-issued day permits.

Angela Chewning, president of the East End Livestock and Horseman’s Association told park officials that the proposed limitations are too restrictive.

“Maybe the state isn’t aware that we’ve been using this land for more than 20 years and we’ve been good stewards of it,” Chewning said. The association maintains the existing trails in the park.

As for the plan to ban horseback riding on the beach, “We’re totally against it,” Chewning said. “The plan gave no reason why horses should not be allowed on the beach. We’ve been riding on the beach all these years with no damage.”

“Slowly but surely we’re losing our place on Long Island,” Bernadette Deerkoski, a member of the horseman’s association told parks officials. “This property is really the only place we can ride on the North Fork.”

In an interview after the hearing, Chewning said she submitted written comments objecting to the plan’s restrictions and documentation refuting some of the plan’s assumptions about equine trail use, such as the statement in the plan that horse manure introduces invasive non-native plant species. “This has been proven to be totally false,” Chewning said, citing two studies undertaken by the National Trail Riding Association, which she said she submitted for the record.

Members of the East End Surf Fishing Club also attended the hearing to question whether town-permitted beach vehicle access would still be allowed on the one-mile-plus stretch of Sound beach fronting the parkland. The plan itself doesn’t address that question directly, said club president Ken Densieski. But the document, which says scuba divers and kayakers will have to carry their gear from the parking lot to the beach, seems to imply that driving on the beach will not be allowed. Densieski said his club would object to such a ban.

The plan is available for download below or at the state parks department website.

The period for written comment ends June 11, 2010. Comments should be submitted to either:
Ronald Foley, Regional Director, L.I. Region, NYS OPRHP, P.O. Box 247, Babylon NY 11702 or Thomas B. Lyons, Director, Resource Management, Agency Building 1, 17th Floor, Empire State Plaza, Albany NY 12238. Comments can also be submitted by email.

The new state park consists of 225 acres of a 525-acre site purchased by the state from Keyspan in 2002 for $16 million. Three hundred acres was set aside for continued agriculture. The site has a long and rich history. It was the scene of a battle in the War of 1812, in which a British ship attacked the mainland. For more than 60 years, the Boys Club of New York operated a summer camp there. A developer in the 1960s operated a sand mine on the site and planned to build a deep-water port there. After much local opposition, the developer abandoned the plan and sold the land to the Long Island Lighting Company, which at one point planned to build two nuclear power plants there. (See slideshow of park photos.)

It remains unclear what impacts the current state fiscal crisis will have on the parks department’s plans to develop the new Hallock State Park and Preserve. The governor wants to slash the agency’s budget by $20 million and the state has announced plans to shut down some 20 existing state parks.