Sale of Carll farm protested at district board meeting

Upset that the Commack School District is planning to sell a historic farm to a developer seeking to build homes there, community members showed up at last night's board meeting to protest the sale and ask that it be delayed.

The Marion Carll property, a 9-acre former farm dating back to 1860 and located near Commack Road, was willed to the school district by its owner in 1969, with a covenant that it be used for educational purposes. Suffolk BOCES used the site for instruction for a time in the 1990s but the land has since been unused, school officials said. The district wants to sell the property because the upkeep on the property has become burdensome.

Suffolk legislators John M. Kennedy, Lynne Nowick and Jon Cooper sent a letter Thursday to the school district asking that the vote be postponed until they could find funding to save the property.

It was unclear last night whether the board would comply with that request. There will be a referendum on the sale June 24.

Cathleen Sullivan of Commack, along with her husband and their two children, were among the more than 100 people who came to the meeting.

"She wanted her home to be a time capsule for the future and this is how we honor her by selling it for 30 town homes," said Sullivan.

A dozen American Indians showed up last night and said they considered the land ancient burial ground because skeletal remains of Indians were found there.

"It would be horrible to think that they would tread upon it," said Quantah Rose, founder of Native American Wisdom and Healing, a group that advocates for Native Americans.

Superintendent James Feltman emphasized the estimated cost to maintain the property - around $200,000 a year - and the district's attempt to work with the town and various historical societies to restore the farmhouse.

The property is in contract to be sold for $750,000 to The Holiday Organization, which built the Hamlet, a community centered around a golf course in Commack. The Hamlet surrounds the Marion Carll property on three sides.

Elliot Monter, president of The Holiday Organization, said it plans to build about 30 single-family homes on the site, and the contract would include a covenant to restore the farmhouse for sale to a private family who would agree to allow the public access for one day a year. It would also call for refurbishing the barns to house equipment, such as tractors and golf carts, and opening those structures to the public for a limited number of days a year.

There would also be a classroom so students could visit, he said. The developers also would make settlements with existing heirs to the estate, as per the will, which said the property would revert to the heirs if the district no longer wanted it.