After a positive public hearing last Thursday before the East Hampton Town Board, it appears another major community preservation fund purchase is close.
Over 10 people spoke in favor of spending $55 million for two parcels totaling 5.5 acres along the shore of Georgica Cove; one spoke against. A small parking area and a loop trail would allow for public access to the preserved property.
The deal is a complex arrangement between the town, East Hampton Village, and the Peconic Land Trust, first hinted at last December when the village passed a surprise resolution dedicating $10 million for the purchase. The village has a portion of town C.P.F. money allocated to it for purchases within its boundaries, but dedicating that $10 million seemed as if it may have been premature, as no contract had been signed. For months, neither the town nor the trust would comment.
(If Georgica Pond looks like a squirrel sitting upright with its paws pointing toward the city, Georgica Cove is its tail and sits entirely within the boundaries of the village.)
The majority of the money, $35 million, will come from the land trust, with now another $10 million to come from the town’s C.P.F.
Assuming the purchase is completed, there will still be nearly $30 million in the C.P.F., which is replenished through a 2-percent transfer tax on nearly all property transfers.
Last winter, the town board agreed to preserve 30 acres on Wainscott Main Street, adjacent to its eponymous pond, for $56 million.
In total, over $100 million will have been dedicated inside of a year to land preservation at the two ponds, both beset by water quality issues due to nitrogen load from upstream septic systems, fertilizer, and pesticide use.
“If developed, there could be about 26,000 square feet of residential structures on those two lots,” John v.H. Halsey, founder and president of the Peconic Land Trust, said at the hearing. “We can’t let that happen.”
The two lots are grassy and gently slope to the pond shore.
Matt Swain, the vice president of conservation programs at the trust, said both humans and wildlife would benefit from the preservation of land. He passed around a photo of “several dozen great blue heron, a very unusual concentration,” using the shoreline of the land.
The trust has been managing approximately 14 adjacent acres for decades. “We’re very excited to add these two parcels to that assemblage,” he said, “creating a nearly 20-acre grassland on Long Island, which is particularly rare in this area.”
“Close to 90 percent of the tall grass prairie, which is the type of grassland that formerly occupied so much of the eastern part of the United States, has been lost,” said Bruce Horwith, a consultant for the trust. “This has led to parallel declines in numerous animal species, especially grassland dependent birds.” While small backyard patches are beneficial, he said, “More is better, particularly in regard to grasslands. Twenty acres seems to be about a minimum size for a grassland to function ecologically.”
Kim Quarty, executive director of Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation (formerly of the Peconic Land Trust), said the ability of the town to leverage $35 million from the trust made the purchase a relative value. “Under this resolution, the town would purchase a conservation easement to protect these parcels in perpetuity at a remarkable bargain sale.”
Earlier, Mr. Halsey said the easement was appraised at over $46 million.
“People have asked me, why should the town support a village project?” asked Matthew Mallow, a nearby resident. “Although Georgica Cove and Georgica Pond are in the village, they’re the drainage for a watershed of 50 square miles beyond just the village of East Hampton.” Water knows no jurisdiction.
Rick Whalen, an attorney for one of the donors, said that in 1978 there was a bitter battle over the subdivision of Cove Hollow Farm, the last dairy farm in East Hampton Town, which operated until 1977 and once had 110 cows.
“The Group for the South Fork was a young environmental organization,” he said. “They tried to get the village planning board and the owner to accept a clustered subdivision plan that would have preserved 26 acres along Georgica Cove, basically in the area that we’re talking about today. They failed.”
“So, in 1978, Cove Hollow Farm was subdivided into grid-style lots. It was destroyed. Except it wasn’t,” he said, pausing for effect. “Miraculously, much of the land the group was seeking to preserve is still intact along Georgica Cove. So, you have an opportunity to rewrite history to salvage a good part of the historic Cove Hollow Farm.”
Paul F. Rickenbach Jr., who was mayor of East Hampton Village for 27 years, also spoke in support of the purchase.
“I used to take my daughters up there to watch them milk the cows at night. That’s how evolution has taken place. It’s so nice to see that these parcels are available. If indeed this becomes a reality, the town will hold the land. The village is a partner. The land trust will be the steward of the property. That’s a trifecta as far as I’m concerned.”
Jim Grimes, an East Hampton Town trustee, reiterated his board’s support for the purchase.
“Trustees have owned Georgica Pond since 1686. But the bigger question here becomes, I think, going back to 1964 when Rachel Carson wrote ‘Silent Spring,’ “ he said. “What does it have to do with this? Not a freaking thing. Except it woke the politicians of this country up to the value of open space, the value of saving some of these areas. And even though this is kind of tiny and maybe you could consider it insignificant, it really isn’t. It’s contiguous with some Peconic Land Trust property. There’s very few pieces of property left on Georgica Pond that are in public ownership.”
Only David Buda, who often asks pointed questions of the town board, spoke against the purchase. Adjacent homeowners were the ones to benefit most, he said.
“Who’s going to manage this? What’s going to happen on that property? None of those documents exist yet. Who’s paying the $35 million? Don’t know,” he said. “The possibility of two very nice homes with modern septic systems on this property does not upset me."
