A parcel of woods and wetlands covering nearly 26 acres in North Haven—land once slated for development as a subdivision—has recently been preserved, with a small piece destined to become parkland.
The Nature Conservancy is purchasing 25.87 acres in the village from property owner Andrew Lack for $3.775 million, according to Randy Parsons, conservation finance and policy advisor for The Nature Conservancy on Long Island.
The Conservancy plans within the next 30 days to sell about 24.3 acres of the property to Suffolk County for the same amount, for use as a park, and transfer the remaining 1.55 acres, undeveloped tidal wetlands and forest with an easement on it, as a gift to North Haven Village. The village will take over management of the smaller portion as an addition to the county parkland, Mr. Parsons said.
“In addition to providing a beautiful place for peaceful walks, this parcel is important for shoreline and water quality protection,” wrote Nancy Kelley, executive director of the Conservancy, in a statement. “The salt marsh on this parcel plays an important part in filtering land-based sources of pollution to the Peconic Bay. The upland areas provide a spot for salt marsh migration in the face of accelerated sea level rise.”
Mr. Parsons said what makes the project unusual is that it is an “‘undevelopment’ project.”
“We are acquiring an approved subdivision, which has not yet been built, abandoning the subdivision map, and returning the land to one vacant parcel of wetlands and woodland, and then selling it to Suffolk County for parks and conservation use,” he wrote in an email, adding that what made the preservation possible was Mr. Lack’s commitment to conservation when he bought the subdivision next door to his house.
The property, which was once zoned for residential development, encompasses a 2-acre area of wetlands at the headwaters of Fresh Pond, with the rest being wooded uplands. About 12 acres of the property had already been subdivided into five building lots, with a cul-de-sac and road running off Fresh Pond Road that have not been built—and now will not be built, thanks to the purchase.
Mr. Lack, a former president of NBC News, bought the property in 1998 for $1.4 million.
The property sits across from the Conservancy’s 2,039-acre Mashomack Preserve on Shelter Island and connects to Shelter Island Sound through Fresh Pond, which empties into the sound via a narrow tidal creek. The Peconic Land Trust holds an easement over the wetlands surrounding Fresh Pond.
It had been on the Conservancy’s short list of properties to develop as a critical component to protecting water quality in the Peconic Estuary.
The North Haven Village Board, Mayor Laura Nolan, the Village Planning Board and its attorney, Anthony Tohill, Mr. Lack and his attorney, Dennis Downes, Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman, and the Suffolk County Planning and Acquisition divisions worked with the Conservancy for more than three years to complete the transaction.
Colleen Reynolds on Oct 30, 2012