A new subdivision is coming to Cutchogue: an 88-acre parcel of land with eight residences bookended by a vineyard on one end and a sod farm on the other.
Located at 7755 Oregon Road, the triangular-shaped property which runs north to the Long island Sound, was originally two farm lots: one growing grapevines; the other, sod, notes agent Judi Desiderio, managing partner and senior vice president of William Raveis who co-owns the property and has labored over the past seven years to get all the zoning in place to create the subdivision.
“I fell in love with this property ten years ago,” says Desiderio, who had sold it to friends who’d planned to put up a family compound, but eventually decided to do so elsewhere.
At the time of the sale, Desiderio introduced her friends to Roman Roth, an owner of Wölffer Estate Vineyard, who bought about 25 of the property’s 88 acres to the west. Delea Sod Farms bought nearly 40 acres on the western end. Both ends of the property are designated as agricultural reserves.
“They can’t have houses on them,” Desiderio explains. “They can have horse farms. They can have vineyards. They have to stay preservation.”
The middle section of the property can now be developed into three 5-acre waterfront lots, four 2.5-acre lots with deeded water access and a two-acre lot close to Oregon Road that has an original barn. Each of the lots has an Oregon Road address.
The Long Road to Development
With another investor who does not wish to be identified, Desiderio bought the property from her friends a few years back and took the lead on getting approvals for the subdivision.
“You have to go through all the different layers,” she says.
The Southold Planning Board gave them conditional final approval for the well water, but the health department subsequently flagged the water quality, instructing them to instead get water from Suffolk County Water Authority.
“Suffolk County Water made us pull the water main all the way up Oregon Road as well as all the way up our driveway, to the tune of $900,000,” Desiderio says. “They have been as bad to deal with, if not worse, than the town.”
This was in spite of New York State’s grants to Suffolk County to install water mains on the North and South Forks because of the poor quality of the water, Desiderio says.
The $435 million New York State Water Infrastructure Improvement & Intermunicipal Grant Awards for 2024 did include sections of the South Fork, but bypassed the North Fork, according to the official New York State website, www.ny.gov.
The water from Oregon Road will now have to be brought up to their property, which is over 2,000 feet from the road to the waterfront lot.
The property, which is expected to go on the market within the next month, will either be developed by Desiderio and partner, sold in its entirety to another party or the lots will be peeled off into 8 separate parcels.
“The fact that it is the only subdivision of its kind, I would think a developer is going to want to take control of this, because there’s nothing like it,” Desiderio says.
Preserving Dark Sky Country
Dotted with farmland, Oregon Road is one of the most exclusive areas on the North Fork.
“That’s the beauty of the area. That’s never going to change. All of that is in perpetuity,” Desiderio says.
Over 30 years ago, Desiderio and partners invested in three commercial buildings in Mattituck, Cutchogue and Southold.
“I genuinely do believe in the North Fork. I think it’s the future of the East End. If you take a bird’s eye view, the South Fork is pretty much completely developed. The only way you’re going to get a new house is either you take something down or you find that one little lot that’s somewhere that ended up buried in someone’s estate.”
The North Fork, Desiderio says, is one of the best “dark sky” places.
“Out there, you have acres and acres and acres of nothing,” she says. “And they protect their dark sky.”
This new subdivision, according to Desiderio, will not impact the visibility of the stars at night.
“These are estate lots. These are not half-acre or one-acre lots. These are over 5 acres and over 2-and-a-half acres. They’re big pieces. So they’re not going to disturb the dark sky.”
Desiderio, who has been in the real estate business for the past 37 years, notes that North Fork town officials have learned from observing their neighbors to the south the importance of balancing commerce with conservation.
“And they’ve done a great job,” she says. “Based on what I saw them do with their upzoning and their protection of farmland, it’s going to remain a very agricultural-oriented location.”
Conservation has always been top of mind for Desiderio.
“You can see when you step onto this property that with deliberation, the intention was to feel that agricultural feel that you feel when you’re driving around the North Fork or you’re going to a vineyard or whatever it might be. It’s to preserve that feeling,” she says.
The quality of construction on the North Fork is continually improving, with styles that are similar to the South Fork, running the gamut of anything from a modern home with a flat roof to a gabled traditional structure, Desiderio says.
“As the consumer for the North Fork is more affluent, maybe retired baby boomers going there to build their retirement home, you’re seeing the quality of everything going up,” Desiderio says. “And that’s another reason we didn’t want to do small lots: We wanted to preserve as much as possible, but also I see the trajectory of going more like estates versus maximum density.”
Calling Oregon Road “probably the last vestige of a great farming road in all of Southold township,” Anne Surchin, a Southold-based architect and vice chairperson of the Southold Historic Preservation Commission, didn’t want to comment on the new Cutchogue subdivision without knowing how the project will eventually be laid out.
“It all depends on how it’s landscaped, how it’s managed,” Surchin says.
