Editorial: Grand plan for Suffolk park
North Fork Preserve, a former hunting lodge in the hamlet of Northville, has plans with Suffolk officials to create a county regional park on a 306-acre site. (Aug. 8, 2011) Credit: Randee Daddona
For at least a decade, it's been high on the list of desirable pieces of land to preserve. Now, the deal is nearly done: the creation of a new Suffolk County park in the Town of Riverhead.
Designed for active use, it will have a little something for a lot of park users. And voters should be proud of the big gift they are giving themselves and future generations, because its creation is possible largely through a local tax specifically to preserve land -- and a way of life.
The park will be located at the site of a former private hunting preserve. Its 350 acres will have room for camping, hiking and biking trails, an equestrian center, a spray park, basketball courts and other uses.
The town will pay a small part of the acquisition cost -- roughly 5 percent. The county will pay the rest, with the proceeds of the quarter-cent sales tax that voters have approved repeatedly, to preserve land and keep our drinking water safe.
That program constitutes a smart long-term investment in the proposition that open space is necessary to keep Long Island an attractive place to live and visit.
The county had previously bought development rights to 50 of the acres. They can't be used for anything but agriculture. So the county will put the equestrian center there. That's an agricultural use, and it makes sense.
County Executive Steve Levy and his staff deserve credit for persevering through complex negotiations and bringing this deal close to the finish line. hN
