Greenport Village pushes for fair share of Southold Town preservation money

At the edge of Greenport Harbor, a row of bungalows on Sandy Beach jut out into glassy waters. Formerly a 19th century hub for shucking scallops, the area is now a haven for residents who boat, fish and occasionally swim in the shallows.

Passing the peninsula by boat on a mild December morning, village Mayor Kevin Stuessi admits that he wouldn't swim there, citing concerns about polluted water.

Beneath the bungalows, aging septic tanks leach nitrogen into the very harbor that defines Greenport’s identity. The ground is too shallow for modern nitrogen-reducing systems, leaving Stuessi and other village officials urging Southold Town to tap its Community Preservation Fund to improve water quality by extending sewer lines in the area. The fund generates revenue for preservation initiatives through a 2% real estate transfer tax.

“It’s something a lot of Greenporters felt very strongly about after years and years of contributing to the fund and not having the ability to apply for uses that would benefit the village directly,” Stuessi added.

Village officials have long advocated for their fair share of CPF money.  But they are putting new pressure on Southold to comply with a 2024 state law requiring towns to spend 10% of their annual CPF revenue share in disadvantaged communities. Greenport is the only such community in Southold, according to New York's Department of State. Southold took in more than $11 million in CPF revenue last year.

One year since the law took effect, the town has lagged on updating its plan in order for Greenport to access the funding. With millions of dollars at stake, Greenport is calling on the town to release funds to address water quality, open space and historic preservation needs in the village's borders.

Lillian McCullough, who oversees CPF projects as Southold's land preservation coordinator, said the town will update its project plan next year to ensure compliance with the new law.

"There are a lot of questions, because it's one sentence that has a huge impact," McCullough said in an interview, adding that it was "critical" to work with village officials to ensure that their needs are reflected both for open space and water quality.

The waterfront, more than anything else, defines the Greenport community's character and should qualify for preservation funding, village officials say.

“We don’t have huge open space, we don’t have farms right in our square mile, but we have a lot that everyone should be wanting to protect,” village trustee Lily Dougherty-Johnson said in an interview.

Southold Supervisor Al Krupski confirmed that Greenport’s share is being set aside. He said the town is working to establish a process so the village can apply for funding. “That’s the bottom line, we need to comply with the law,” the supervisor said in an interview. 

Pivot to water quality initiatives

The five East End towns — Southampton, East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island and Southold — created the Community Preservation Fund by referendum in 1998. It is used to preserve farmland and open space.

In 2016, voters extended the fund to 2050 and approved a measure allowing 20% of a town's CPF revenue to be used for water quality projects.

Other towns have tapped CPF funds to restore aquatic habitats, reduce stormwater runoff and even preserve historic sites, including author John Steinbeck’s Sag Harbor home in 2023. Southold has held off, pointing to 7,600 undeveloped acres eyed for preservation.

Krupski, a fourth-generation farmer, is somewhat of a purist when it comes to CPF and believes the best use of the fund is to stop development on farmland.

“The decision was made years ago that we’re under such development pressure, the best way to preserve water quality was by land preservation,” he said at a town meeting on Dec. 16.

The town finances water quality improvement projects through bonds and other means, Krupski added in an interview. Southold’s budget included $250,000 in stormwater mitigation projects this year; another $250,000 is proposed for 2026.

“We have a long history of spending money for water quality improvements outside of the CPF,” Krupski said. “It benefits the village residents as much as anyone because village residents can raise shellfish in our surface waters. … the beaches are open because of not only Southold’s town efforts, but all the East End towns’ efforts to improve water quality.”

Funds set aside

Through the end of September, Southold earned $8.5 million in CPF revenue in 2025, McCullough said. Under the state law, Greenport would be eligible for at least $850,000 in funding.

But Greenport officials said the town lacks a mechanism for the village to access CPF money under a plan last updated in 2016. State law requires towns to update their CPF plans every five years.

Greenport has a list of projects that could benefit from the CPF, including extending the sewer district, improving stormwater drainage and historic preservation projects.

Sandy Beach resident Tod Hart said the threat of a failed septic system puts the entire community at risk. “The best solution is a sewer, just to relieve everybody of all those potential hazards,” he said. “We have nothing if we don’t have water quality.”