Suffolk: 1,000 open space buys since '04

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy (above) announced this week that the county has closed on its 1,000th parcel of open space since 2004.

For $1.3 million, the county purchased 38 acres of land in the Beaverdam Creek watershed in Brookhaven hamlet along Suffolk’s South Shore, officials said. With the acquisitions, the county’s preservation holdings in the watershed area now total 300 acres.

The land was acquired under the New Suffolk County Drinking Water Protection Act, which promotes county purchase of parcels otherwise ripe for residential or commercial development.

“It’s a record we’re very proud of,” Levy said. “We’ve had 1,000 parcels preserved, with $600 million invested. It’s a milestone.”

The county also said this week that it had closed on 20 acres of development rights for farmland in Riverhead Town. For $1.1 million, that land joins 120 acres of adjacent farmland previously bought by the county for preservation purposes.