Port Jeff residents act to preserve parcel

A scrapped proposal to develop a 6-acre patch near Port Jefferson's Long Island Rail Road station has galvanized a group of residents to preserve the land.

A Hauppauge developer eyed the site, adjacent to The Highlands condominium complex, for four three-story, 24-unit apartment buildings -- a proposal that was ultimately dismissed by the village.

But residents who opposed the proposal have rallied to urge the village to preserve the land -- a swath of trees and fields where deer and foxes sometimes roam -- forever.

The group, started by two women who live in The Highlands, have stood outside coffee shops and shopping centers to collect more 1,300 signatures in favor of turning the land into a park, and they say they hope to collect twice that many.

"When I bought my condo, I could see this field and I said, 'Look at this beautiful open space that we have,' " said Kathleen Riley, a retired music teacher and one of the group's leaders. "There's so much building going on, this needs to be preserved."

Port Jefferson village owns the land on Highlands Boulevard. The developer, James Tsunis, proposed swapping a 1.84-acre parcel of land on West Broadway for the Highlands Boulevard plot, but the village was uninterested.

Tsunis, who made the offer five months ago, said he no longer wants the land.

Mayor Margot Garant and other officials said the village, which is grappling with budget season and imposing a potential 6.3-percent tax increase, will not soon decide about making it a park.

"I'm not in a hurry to make any decision," said trustee Bruce D'Abramo. "It's not in danger of being developed."

But Christina Giacomazza-Yost, a travel agent, Highlands resident, and the other leader of the preservation group, said they will continue collecting signatures. The group has signatures from residents throughout the village, and not just neighbors of the parcel, she said.

Donald Pawluk Sr., who lives north of the Highlands Boulevard area, said he had signed the petition.

"It's a good idea to protect the land," Pawluk said. "It's one of the last, largest open tracts of land that the village owns."

Much of the 3-square-mile village is densely developed residential, commercial and waterfront property.

Giacomazza-Yost said she looks at the piece of undisturbed land and remembers her youth in a less-developed Nassau County. She said saving the six acres would prevent her community from succumbing to overdevelopment.

"It takes away a piece of your psyche when you have this little village and everything green is developed," Giacomazza-Yost said.

"When you see everything paved over, it changes the character of the village," she said.