Suffolk needs cash from Hauppauge land sale

Your editorial, "Don't sink Yaphank housing idea yet" [Feb. 1], raises the question why I think selling 220 acres to the highest bidder would bring in more money that Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy's sale of the entire 255-acre parcel for the construction of Legacy Village.

The answer is painfully simple. Under the Legacy Village plan, the county would earn a total of $12 million for the 255 acres, trading most of the value of the property for development concessions, including affordable housing we no longer need and a sports arena no one wants. Since the county itself, in partnership with the Town of Brookhaven, recently bought a nearby 90-acre parcel from the Legacy Village developer for $20 million, it seems clear that the county executive's proposed sale of a 95-acre industrially zoned section of the Legacy Village parcel for $12 million is a virtual gift.

You also question the wisdom of selling at the bottom of a real estate market downturn. The fact is that Suffolk County needs cash now. There is no requirement under my legislation to sell all the property now, so perhaps with at least some of the acreage, we could wait for a more favorable market to develop.

In this budget crisis, we need to have the option of selling the land now.

William J. Lindsay

D-Holbrook

Editor's note: The writer is the presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature.