Suffolk Purchases Development Rights to Andrews and Wojewocki Farms

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy announced today passage of two resolutions authorizing the preservation of more than 54 acres of active farmlands in the town of Riverhead through the purchase of development rights.

The County Legislature Tuesday evening approved resolutions to acquire the rights to 18.8 acres of the Andrews family farm on Hulse Landing Road, and to 35.5 acres of the Wojewocki farm off Sound Avenue.

“Preserving active farms on Suffolk’s North Fork is critical to the long-range economic sustainability of the county’s agricultural industry, and helps maintain the character and charm of our East End,” said Levy. “These two latest farmland preservations bring our administration’s total to 67 since I took office in 2004, and both parcels sit among a vast area of land which has already been preserved for farming through past purchases.”

Andrews Family Farm

Located north of Sound Avenue on Hulse Landing Road, Suffolk is acquiring the rights to 18.8 acres of farmland at a cost of $1,353,600. The farm grows primarily field crops, including scallions, radishes, collard greens and mustard greens.

Wojewocki Farm

The 35-acre Wojewocki family farm, which sits between two other preserved farm parcels, is being acquired by Suffolk for $2,059,000. The farm includes a family-run farmstand where road crops, including pumpkins, are sold.

Since Levy’s inauguration in 2004, when he revitalized a nearly dormant and scandal-ridden open space program, Suffolk has preserved well over 5,500 acres – which is six and one-half times the size of New York’s Central Park – including 65 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.

Levy also advocated for extending the dedicated ¼-cent sales tax for open space into 2030, approved by voters in 2007.

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. The Legacy Fund was recognized in 2008 by the National Association of Counties and the National Land Trust with a County Leadership in Conservation Award, and Levy last year received a Leadership Award from the Long Island Farm Bureau.

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