Farmland preservation

A 107.8-acre preserved horse farm on Main Road in Jamesport was purchased last month by Riverhead Council Member Ken Rothwell and his wife Debra, who will continue its equestrian use under a new name, Thunder Road Stables.

Island Grow met with Riverhead planners on Tuesday to advance plans for two indoor cultivation buildings on preserved farmland.

Riverhead’s proposed plan to use real property transfer tax revenues for water mains to areas where private wells are contaminated drew criticism at a public hearing Tuesday.

A roughly 18-acre parcel of vacant land on Route 25A in Wading River once slated for development with retail, office and restaurant uses has been permanently preserved for agricultural use.

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine visited a working farm in Riverhead Wednesday to sign legislation appropriating $15 million of new funding this year for farmland preservation.

Representatives of environmental groups, community groups and local government officials across eastern Suffolk County turned out for a two-hour, wide-ranging conversation with state legislators Thursday morning in Riverhead. 

Riverhead planners have proposed an amendment to the town’s transfer of development rights code that would create a major new receiving area for development rights transferred from agricultural land in the town.

Suffolk County is committing $100 million over the next 10 years to preserve 10,000 acres of developable farmland, in order to reach the goal of preserving 30,000 acres set over 50 years ago.

Suffolk County has preserved almost 140 acres of open space and farmland along the historic Sound Avenue corridor in Riverhead, County Legislator Al Krupski announced yesterday.

The county legislature yesterday approved the purchase of development rights on the 50-acre Schmitt farm in Riverhead as well as the purchase outright of 20 acres adjacent to the North Fork Preserve, which the county acquired for parkland in 2011.