INTERNATIONAL COUNTRYSIDE STEWARDSHIP EXCHANGE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE 1991 NORTHEAST EXCHANGE

Introduction

The North Fork of Long Island, composed of the Town of Southold and the Village of Greenport, has open countryside, rich and productive farmland, woodlands, pine barrens, wetlands, historic coastal villages, shallow and deep bays, rocky and sandy beaches, cliffs and undeveloped islands. The Nature Conservancy recently called North Fork one of the 12 most important natural areas in the U.S. lacking protection.

The area also has a rich history. Southolders claim the oldest English-speaking town in New York State. Southold celebrated its 350th anniversary in 1990.

Observations

The North Fork of Long Island is an area of extraordinary beauty and resources. Farms are diverse and seem to be thriving. Potatoes are a traditional crop and remain important. Nursery operations are expanding. But the focus of agriculture has shifted and North Fork is seriously threatened by residential and commercial development spreading east from New York City.

The North Fork is on the fringe of suburban sprawl and the effects have already been felt. Land values have soared and housing prices are high. Few young families can afford to settle there and the population is aging.

The “brown tide” plagues Peconic Bay and threatens the shellfish industry. Hot summers, shallow water, effluent and non-point pollution runoff, yachts and boat parks crowding the creeks may all contribute to the problem.

Unfortunately, local controls are inadequate to cope with these economic and environmental changes. The town government is inefficiently organized and discussions of current and future needs are too often polarized.

Southold Town developed a Master Plan in 1984 that reflected a community vision of sustained agriculture, pastoral villages and environmental integrity. Yet Southold has not established programs that can assure implementation of this plan. The 1989 zoning ordinance does not reflect the plan, and it has actually contributed to land fragmentation and sprawl. The goals and objectives in the Master Plan are still valid. The weakness is in its execution.

Key Issues

• Farmland Preservation
• Water Quality (Fresh and Saltwater)
• Tourism Development
• Affordable Housing

Recommendations

In order to be clearer and more efficient in dealing with land use and development issues, the Southold Town Board should streamline governmental organization and establish a new planning process based on a consensus around the town’s shared vision.

Community-oriented nonprofit groups in the Town of Southold and the North Fork area should form an Action Coalition to promote their shared vision and to develop interrelated projects to achieve that vision. The Town of Southold should cooperate with the Action Coalition to restate in clear, specific terms Southold Town’s shared goals.

Southold, together with the Action Coalition and others, should create a visual map — a blueprint– of the town based on its shared vision. They should then institute creative, practical steps to implement it.

The Town of Southold should consider a combined Purchase of Development Rights and a Transfer of Development Rights Program. They should also consider expanding the current tax abatement program for farmland into a working farm tax abatement program that would eliminate property taxes on farmland and farm buildings for a right of first purchase on the land if it is to ever go out of farming use.

To protect surface and ground water quality, the Town of Southold should develop a capital improvement program for water and sewer lines. In addition, the town should work to identify and eliminate nonpoint sources of pollution and solve the brown tide problem in Peconic Bay.

The Town of Southold should create an economic plan that promotes sustainable development using existing assets and the area’s unique sense of place as its theme. Tourism would play a central part in this plan.

Southold should also develop an affordable housing plan that would encourage a diversity of quality housing, including rental units, equity-sharing concepts, and private ownership. This plan should be in keeping with the historic character of the area and mostly located within existing villages and hamlets.

In order to implement the recommendations, leadership must be provided. In some areas, town government will have to take action: in others, private resources can be more effective. Southold Town government and the Action Coalition should develop a mutually agreed-upon strategic action plan for implementation of specific tasks, assigning responsibility for leadership in fulfilling them to the appropriate agency or organization.

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©2002 Glynwood Center