The long-anticipated purchase of the former Bailey Motel property on Montauk Highway in Westhampton is finally complete.
Last week, the Suffolk County Legislature authorized the county’s share of the funding for the joint $6 million purchase, the cost of which it is splitting with Southampton Town. The Town Board approved its share of the funding last May.
Acquiring and preserving the 29-acre property has been a topic of discussion for nearly five years, as officials negotiated with the owners, 6 Pierrepont LLC in Brooklyn. As part of the deal, the town has agreed to sell three acres of the former motel property to the Westhampton Cemetery Association, allowing for an expansion of the graveyard.
The property, which housed the Bailey Motel before it was razed in early 2010, is bordered by Montauk Highway, Nadine Drive and Old Country Road, and is split into two lots on either side of Montauk Highway. Two smaller parcels were included with the original motel property; one measures about one-third of an acre and will go to the cemetery association while the second, which totals just under an acre, will be used by the Southampton Town Highway Department.
The county’s share of funding for the purchase will come from the Suffolk County Drinking Water Protection Program because a portion of the land runs adjacent to Beaverdam Creek. The town’s share came from its Community Preservation Fund.
“This property, which is compromised of pristine meadow lands, woodlands and wetlands, will provide important wildlife habitat and protection of the surface waters of Beaverdam Creek,” Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman said in a release. “This town and county partnership is another example of working together with the common goal of strengthening our efforts to protect open space and water quality.”
In the same statement, Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst thanked Mr. Schneiderman for making sure that the acquisition happened.
“The preservation of this environmentally significant property is an example of the important community goals that are met when Southampton Town and Suffolk County work together,” she said.
