The Greater Jamesport Civic Association has launched the Blue Ribbon Panel for Preservation, an initiative aimed at addressing land preservation issues in the Town of Riverhead.
Comprised of professionals in land preservation, environmental science, and local government officials, the panel will focus on farmland, shoreline, and open space in Riverhead Town.
The panel includes Robert DeLuca, president of Group for the East End; Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard, with Riverhead Town Council Member Denise Merrifield serving as an alternate town representative; Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski; Kevin McDonald, conservation project director for public lands at The Nature Conservancy on Long Island; Kevin McAllister, founder and president of Defend H2O; Juan Micieli-Martinez, president of the Long Island Farm Bureau; Janice Scherer, planning and development administrator for the Town of Southampton; farmer and Schmitt Family Farm owner Phil Schmitt; Laura Jens-Smith, president of the Greater Jamesport Civic Association; Suffolk County Legislator Catherine Stark, who represents the 1st Legislative District; and Julie Wesnofske, senior project manager at the Peconic Land Trust.
The initiative is a response to calls from Riverhead Town Board from the public for innovative approaches to land preservation, particularly after Riverhead’s 2024 Comprehensive Plan was amended September to remove a plan for agritourism resorts, which, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, are “a form of commercial enterprise that links agricultural production and/or processing with tourism to attract visitors onto a farm, ranch, or other agricultural business for the purposes of entertaining or educating the visitors while generating income for the farm, ranch, or business owner.”
“We felt that it was important,” Laura Jens-Smith told Dan’s Papers. “Instead of just complaining that they things weren’t being preserved, we felt it was important to take some action and and be able to present some ideas. There’s a lot of development pressure – we see that with the agritourism we see that with some of these housing developments that are being proposed on what is currently agricultural land. We’re aware of all of this pressure that’s out there. We want to relieve that pressure and give some alternatives to allow farmers to be able to continue to farm.”
The agritourism concept faced major pushback from the community, and while Hubbard expressed some disappointment at a town board meeting about losing the plan, Hubbard ultimately moved to amend the plan.
“Land management, specifically preservation, is critically important to Riverhead,” Hubbard said in a statement about being named to the panel. “And while land preservation has always been at the forefront of the Town’s TDR, Open Space and Farmland Preservation Committees, I welcome the opportunity for collaboration, discussion, analysis and exploration of old and new preservation techniques with the Blue Ribbon Panel.”
Jens-Smith added that the panel would look at how neighboring towns have managed land preservation under development pressure – namely Southold, where Town Supervisor Al Krupski had been happy to see the agritourism plan struck down.
“If you’re a landowner, you’re only preserving your land once,” Krupski said. “If you’re in government, you know there’s got to be a structure so that when a landowner comes in,, they have confidence that there will be a conclusion at some point. And there’s so many advantages if you’re doing farmland preservation. The land stays in private hands. It stays on the tax roll, and the municipal government doesn’t have any responsibilities as far as maintenance. And it really diminishes the demand for services, school, library, and policing. It doesn’t really demand much services, governmental services. If you’re preserving open space, then some municipality is going to be charged with stewardship of it. On the other hand, it’s not going to demand a lot of services beyond the stewardship part. So there’s so many advantages to preserving the land, and a lot of times you only get one chance to preserve it.”
The panel will analyze existing strategies and review recommendations from the plan, as well as explore new avenues for funding. While the panel is focused primarily on Riverhead Town, the plans set forth could have major implications for preservation on the entire East End.
“Over my long experience in Suffolk County government, land preservation has been one of my key policy priorities,” Suffolk County Legislator Catherine Stark, whose district encompasses the towns of Riverhead, Southold, and Shelter Island said. “When I became aware of the Blue Ribbon Panel, I was more than willing to join so I could continue to support farmland and open space preservation. I’m excited to be working with my colleagues on the Blue Ribbon panel to ensure we protect the character of the North Fork, and protect it for our future generations.”
