Suffolk County acquires island from Dowling College

Suffolk County has become the proud owner of a three-acre island just north of Smith Point County Park in the Great South Bay for absolutely nothing.

Acquisition of the undeveloped island, which had been owned by Dowling College, was accepted as a donation at the last county Legislature meeting of 2018 and approved by County Executive Steve Bellone on New Year’s Eve.

Neil Bivona, the college’s real estate consultant, said Dowling first asked if the county were interested in buying the island. But officials said it could not be legally developed and had no market value.

“The county suggested a donation,” said Sarah Lansdale, county planning director.

Dowling, which has closed and lost its tax-exempt nonprofit status, would have faced a $4,800 a year property tax bill if it did not donate the property.

Philip Berdolt, county parks commissioner, said the island may have value as an alternate breeding site for the endangered piping plover population, which in the past has forced closure of sections of the Smith Point’s five-mile stretch of barrier beach.