Judge tosses Head of the Harbor lawsuit in Stony Brook road, dam repair standstill

A state judge has thrown out Head of the Harbor’s lawsuit alleging that Stony Brook nonprofit The Ward Melville Heritage Organization had failed to repair a dam and pond damaged by an August 2024 storm that also washed away part of a bridge.

State Supreme Court Justice James F. Matthews ruled in an April 2 decision that the village, in the Town of Smithtown, lacked legal standing to sue the nonprofit and also was not authorized to order Ward Melville to conduct a cleanup outside village limits.

Head of the Harbor Village Attorney Brian Egan said Tuesday the village planned to appeal the ruling.

The decision was the latest development in a skirmish that has involved Head of the Harbor, Ward Melville, Brookhaven Town and Suffolk County since the collapse of a dam in Stony Brook's T. Bayles Minuse Mill Pond Park during an Aug. 18-19, 2024, rainstorm.

Brookhaven and the county were not part of the lawsuit.

The dam collapse caused a pond at the park to drain out, washing away a 100- to 200-foot section of Harbor Road, a key link between Stony Brook, in Brookhaven Town, and Head of the Harbor.

The site of the dam and road collapse remains the same as it was 20 months ago, with broken sections of Harbor Road resting upon what is left of the dirt roadbed.

Private road, public use

Though the park and Harbor Road are owned by the nonprofit, both were used by the public with virtually no restrictions prior to the dam collapse. 

Since the collapse, Head of the Harbor residents have used narrow, unlit Rhododendron Drive for trips to Stony Brook. Many residents had pressed village officials to force Ward Melville to repair the bridge or at least remove damaged sections of the road from the site.

In his decision, Matthews rejected the village's contention that the road collapse had inconvenienced village residents, noting there was "no common right of the public to use that road" since the bridge is privately owned by the nonprofit.

"Simply put, the village has no right on any basis to compel a private property owner to maintain a private road for the benefit of its residents," Matthews wrote. "It is even more astonishing that the village would claim the right to compel Ward Melville to maintain a private road ... outside the territorial limits of the village."

In his decision, Matthews said assertions by the village that Ward Melville owns the dam and road "are deemed true."

Head of the Harbor Mayor Michael Utevsky on Tuesday issued a statement saying the village is "gratified" that the judge upheld its contention that the nonprofit owns the collapsed portion of Harbor Road. Utevsky added the village believes "that the lawsuit has already served its purpose."

He said the village, nonprofit and Brookhaven are moving ahead with plans to rebuild and fund the project. "We don’t expect that the Judge’s decision should interfere with our progress," Utevsky said.

Nonprofit 'pleased' with outcome

Linda Margolin, an attorney for The Ward Melville Heritage Organization, said in a statement she was “very pleased with the court’s decision, and I hope it will bring an end to the swirl of negative publicity that WMHO has endured about this disaster."

Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico said Matthews' decision did not surprise him.

“We didn’t join the lawsuit because of this very reason," Panico said Tuesday, referring to the village's lack of legal standing. "I understand why they did it. However, from a legal perspective, I always believed this was going to be the outcome.”

Efforts to rebuild the road and dam have been stymied for more than a year and a half amid a dispute over who owns the park facilities. Ward Melville officials initially claimed either Brookhaven or the county should rebuild Harbor Road and the earthen dam that supports it.

More recently, the parties have worked together to seek Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief.

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.com,jeanpaul.salamanca@newsday.comCarlMacGowan,

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.