Suffolk County appears to have chosen preservation over development.
The county acquired 93 acres of what officials call some of the last undeveloped waterfront parcels along the Long Island Sound, Newsday reported.
The county paid $8.3 million for the Riverhead property and plans to make it a public preserve with hiking trails, a beach, and access to bluffs, according to the report. It’s one of the largest land preservation deals closed in Suffolk County in the last decade.
The land currently has three houses, 20 acres of farmland, and 900 feet of beach frontage. Zoning would have allowed up to 46 homes on the property. The sellers were the Carman family, who purchased the property in 1964.
Suffolk County towns are also active on the preservation front. In August, East Hampton bought a publicly listed 3.1-acre property on Fort Pond with plans to create a public green space. [Newsday] — Dennis Lynch