Suffolk Approves Working Waterfront Preservation Program
The Suffolk County Legislature voted this morning to approve new legislation that would allow the county to purchase easements to protect sites that had historically been used for fishing docks, marinas, fish packing and aquaculture.
Pictured Above: Greenport, one of the few deepwater ports on Long Island, as seen from the harbor.
In conjunction with $9.5 million in Capital Project Funding earmarked in the county’s 2026-2028 Capital Project Plan, the legislation will enable owners of commercial waterfront property to seek easements ensuring that their property remains used in perpetuity for a variety of water-dependent business purposes, at a time when many commercial waterfront properties are being sold off and converted to large homes for the wealthy.
The legislature heard nothing but positive comments at an Aug. 5 public hearing on the proposal, including from Greenport Village Trustee Mary Bess Phillips, whose family’s commercial fishing business is at the heart of the village’s working waterfront, and from East Hampton Town Councilman David Lys, liaison to East Hampton’s Fisheries Advisory Committee.
East End County Legislators Catherine Stark and Ann Welker have been shepherding the bill through the legislative process.
Ms. Welker, who represents the South Fork, said before casting her vote that the bill, mirrored after 2008 legislation in the State of Maine “will be the first of its kind in the State of New York,” and “will be groundbreaking in preserving 1,000 miles of bays, creeks and harbors for people who work the waterfront.
“There are many pressures on our shores — sea level rise, more intense and frequent storms — things we can do little to manage,” she said. “However, pressures of development are the most pressing and omnipresent. We need to protect the character and history of fishing and farming that Suffolk County is steeped in.”
Ms. Stark, who represents the North Fork, said the bill was drafted in response to the 2024 sale of Gosman’s Dock in Montauk, where a great deal of fish caught off of Montauk had been processed.
“We’ve been working for a year to get this done and get it done the right way,” she said, adding that Suffolk County’s maritime economy contributes $3 billion to the county’s economy each year, including $1.5 billion in wages.
“We need to protect these businesses, and all those who want to invest in our marine businesses,” she said.
The capital funding, which was approved by the legislature earlier this year, includes $2.5 million in 2026, with a total commitment of $9.5 million between 2026 and 2028, she added.
The law would allow owners of property considered working waterfront to apply to a new, 17-member Working Waterfront Committee that would determine if the property meets the criteria for a conservation easement based on several factors, including the economic significance of the property to marine businesses.
Sarah Lansdale, County Commissioner of Economic Development & Planning, gave an overview of a recent county survey about working waterfront properties and the needs of the property owners who wish to keep these historic uses on their land to the Legislature’s Capital Project Working Group meeting on May 20.
Ms. Lansdale said the county has found that “there are 2,400 acres of waterfront commercial properties that comprise of 964 parcels” in Suffolk County.
Fifty-five percent of the 164 respondents to the survey said they’d been approached about selling their property in the past five years, though the vast majority said it was “highly unlikely” they would sell their property within the next five years. Ninety percent said they’d be interested in participating in a program to preserve working waterfront.
Ms. Lansdale provided each of the legislators with a package of Swedish Fish before their meeting Tuesday morning in anticipation of their support for the bill, said the Legislature’s Presiding Officer, Kevin McCaffrey, before voting to approve the proposal.
“It’s worth under $25, so we can accept it,” he said of the gift.
