Open space acquisition of South Jamesport parcel falls through: County Exec Romaine

The possibility of preserving the Peconic Farms property on Peconic Bay Boulevard in South Jamesport is off the table, a spokesperson for County Executive Ed Romaine told RiverheadLOCAL today.

The owner of the 9.6-acre parcel, who had been negotiating with Suffolk County to sell the land for preservation as open space, notified the county real estate division late Wednesday that they were no longer interested in selling the land to the county, according to the county executive.

“This is a missed opportunity to preserve more farmland on the North Fork,” Romaine said in a statement.

A portion of the site had been farmed, though the property was slated to be preserved as open space.

The owner has decided not to sell the property to Suffolk “as is their right,” Romaine said, adding, “We remain open to any further discussions in the future.”

The property owner could not be reached for comment by press time.

The potential sale became a subject of local controversy last week, when County Legislator Greg Doroski asked the Riverhead Town Board to partner with the county in the acquisition by managing the property after its transfer to the county. It would be preserved as open space for passive recreation uses, he told Town Board members at last week’s work session.

Council Member Jo Ann Waski said she was surprised by that because the town understood the property would be preserved for farming, not recreation. Waski said she had worked with former County Legislator Catherine Stark on moving forward with the purchase of development rights.

Doroski said that was not how the application had proceeded.

Riverhead officials balked at the idea of recreational uses on the site, expressing concerns that it would be opened up to people from all over Suffolk seeking beach access. The parcel borders town-owned land along East Creek, but does not have any direct access to the waterfront.

Residents in an adjoining neighborhood also objected to the idea of recreational uses on the property. They said they would support an open space purchase without any recreational uses.

The Town Board on Tuesday adopted a resolution supporting an open space acquisition conditioned on there being no recreational use of the site as county parkland.

“It’s really unfortunate because this should have been a no-brainer for everyone,” Doroski said in a phone interview Thursday evening.

“This is exactly what I was warning about with the signals that we send to people and the difficulty we make,” he said. “And it’s not just this guy, it’s anyone else who’s entering into the process. It shows that Riverhead is not a good partner. This should have been a very, very easy decision for the town,” Doroski said.

Some Riverhead officials bristled at that characterization.

“Riverhead has more preserved land than any other town in Suffolk,” Council Member Bob Kern said. “And we have no problem preserving this. I think we made that clear,” Kern said. “But again, I wouldn’t try to force any landowner to do anything that they don’t want to do.”

“Riverhead was doing its due diligence as we are required to do on behalf of the taxpayers,” Council Member Ken Rothwell said. “Legislator Doroski took an issue and made it into a political debate, as opposed to a nonpartisan effort where everyone diligently works together,” Rothwell said.

“We, as elected officials of the Town of Riverhead, should be granted time to do our due diligence on behalf of the taxpayers. What does this property cost? How much will management of the site cost? What would be entailed in the process? To come in on a Thursday and demand an immediate response for a meeting happening Monday morning is unreasonable,” he said.

“And then we all watched on social media him roaming around on private property — trespassing — making slanderous videos attacking us and posting them on Instagram and Facebook,” Rothwell said. “I can’t imagine how the homeowner felt. Here he was negotiating with the county and suddenly it becomes a social media event,” he said. “That’s just inappropriate.”

Supervisor Jerry Halpin expressed disappointment that the acquisition may not happen.

“I’m disappointed that this wasn’t able to happen,” Halpin said. “I totally respect the owner and their decisions, but I hope that myself and our Town Board can always be open to working with the county and landowners” to preserve land.