Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy and Legislator Nowick Take Steps to Preserve Almost 5 Acres Along Nissequogue River

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy and Legislator Nowick Take Steps to Preserve Almost 5 Acres Along NissequogueRiver

Contiguous Properties Will be Added to County’s Extensive Amount of Protected Land in the Town of Smithtown

Hauppauge , NY – Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy will submit legislation this week that would preserve 4.92 acres of riverfront property in Smithtown.

Under Levy’s legislation, cosponsored by Legislator Lynne Nowick, the county will spend $800,000 to acquire two contiguous properties along the NissequogueRiver consisting of tidal and freshwater wetlands with upland forest habitat. The two properties are located east of Landing Avenue and across from both county and town property holdings, since both governments have been acquiring wetlands and nearby, low-lying parcels within this floodplain for years.

Upon legislative approval, both properties will be transferred to the Suffolk County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation for passive recreational use. The resolution will be eligible for a vote at the Legislature’s August 5 meeting.

“The Nissequogue is the largest river system that flows into Long Island Sound within SuffolkCounty,” Levy said. “Preserving it is not only vital to protecting its ecosystem, but also for protecting that of the Long Island Sound. By not developing any adjacent land, we can prevent homeowners from causing waste to get into the river, and prevent riverfront homes from being flooded during flood season.”

“An additional reward of the county’s land preservation program is that for every piece of land that is acquired, other owners look toward preserving land that has special meaning to them and is environmentally precious,” Nowick added. “Shortly after the CountyExecutive and I announced the KnoxSchool land acquisition, Helen DeCarmine contacted my office to see if the county would be interested in purchasing land along the NissequogueRiver. The family’s goal was to ensure that this beautiful waterfront property be retained in its natural state.”

Since Levy’s inauguration in 2004, when he revitalized a nearly dormant and scandal-ridden open space program, Suffolk has preserved over 5,500 acres – which is six and one-half times the size of New York’s Central Park – including 49 farms. The program continues to aggressively pursue the purchase of environmentally significant parcels and farmlands.

Upon taking office in 2004, Levy implemented a number of measures to revitalize and reinvigorate the county’s open space and water protection programs, including use of a Master List of properties to speed up the planning and appraisal processes and to take the politics out of land acquisition; streamlining the contract process; increasing the number of attorneys in the Division of Real Estate for closings; implementing a $75 million Save Open Spaces (SOS) Bond Act; and expanding the number of acquisitions done with other municipalities, environmental agencies or private land trusts.

In 2006, Levy created a $50 million Environmental Legacy Fund in the county’s capital budget, which is earmarked for acquisitions in which other municipalities or private interests apply matching funds.