Conservation news Protecting Open Space on Long Island’s North Shore North Shore LaNd aLLiaNce Trustee Emeritus Volume 6, Issue 11 Danny Davison Board of Trustees Carter Bales, Chair Luis Rinaldini, Vice-Chair Rosemary Bourne, Secretary & Treasurer Elizabeth Ainslie John Bralower Gib Chapman Hal Davidson Nancy Douzinas Mark Fasciano Max Geddes Jane Greenleaf Leland Hairr Hoyle Jones Nancy Kelley Tom Lieber Bridget Macaskill Clarence Michalis Jonathan Moore Judy Murray Barry Osborn Patsy Randolph Julie Rinaldini Hollis Russell Larry Schmidlapp Frank Segarra Woodcrest Country Club - Summer 2010 Zach Taylor Terry Thielen NSLA L oSeS Bid for WoodcreSt couNtry cLuB Paula Weir Karl Wellner On Thursday, May 6th, the 107-acre Woodcrest Country Club (located on Gail Wickes Tom Zoller Muttontown/East Woods Road) was sold at public auction. After a series of Advisory Board unsuccessful reorganization plans, the Club board voted to sell Woodcrest in a Myron Blumenfeld voluntary bankruptcy auction. Ann Cannell Judith Chapman In an attempt to protect this significant property, North Shore Land Alliance Louise Harrison (NSLA) put together a group of investors to bid on the property. The “North Shore Eric Kulleseid Neal Lewis Land Alliance Group” was composed of the Village of Muttontown, the Town of Robert Mackay Oyster Bay, neighbors of the Woodcrest Club, a private investor and NSLA. While Sarah Meyland our $15.25 million bid was more than the “stalking horse” bid, we did not win but Peter Schiff John Turner did learn a lot about the process. If NSLA had a “fast action” revolving fund of $10 Rick Webel million or more, we would have moved earlier and possibly saved the Club for Richard Weir conservation. Staff President Lisa Ott The purchaser, Vincenza Properties, which paid $19 million for the property, its Associate Directors buildings and their contents, has not made public its plans for the property. Barbara Hoover , Jane Jackson Carol Schmidlapp, Peach Schnier Whatever Vincenza decides to do, we are hopeful that land conservation and Bookkeeper Mimi DeSena organically oriented turf maintenance will be part of the plan. Office Manager Andrea Millwood (continued on pg. 3) Dear NSLA Members: The North Shore Land Alliance is now seven years old and, by any measure, has been highly successful in protecting open space on the North Shore. We are directly responsible for protecting nearly 800 acres of natural lands and have made strong progress in promoting conservation-mindedness throughout the North Shore Community. Our support base is large and growing, as is our reputation as an honest, effective and non-partisan organization. In addition, we have just come off of our greatest conservation success (the Banfi Fields) and our greatest conservation disappointment (the Woodcrest Club). Banfi illustrates our ability to connect buyer and seller in a constructive way, in addition to marshalling funds and community support. Woodcrest illustrates our need for fast-action financial resources (a large Land Acquisition Fund) to preempt bad outcomes. Indeed, we might have saved Woodcrest if we had an emergency funding capability and been able to pre-empt the auction. This loss of valuable open space drives home the need for a Land Acquisition Fund so we are ready when opportunities arise. We are lucky to live in a community with so many extraordinary places around us, places like Rottkamp's Farm (Old Brookville), Brookville Nurseries on Rt. 25A, the Seminary Property (Lloyd Harbor) and St. Josaphat’s Monastary (Lattingtown), to name a few. While many of these properties are not in jeopardy now, circumstances can change and it is our hope that we will be in a position to protect them if and when they do. Places like these are responsible for the charming, rural character that we all enjoy. They protect our drinking water, absorb harmful runoff before it reaches our beaches and bays, host the beautiful trees that clean our air, and provide an opportunity to grow our food. The North Shore would not be the lovely place it is today without these natural resources. Development pressure will only grow as the economy improves. Our past reliance on government support will not work in the foreseeable future. The time to act is now! Please join us as we step up our efforts to protect our most important open spaces. Your Friend in Conservation, Carter F. Bales Chair Crops growing on the Banfi Fields - not houses. 2 Conservation News Spring/Summer 2010 As you may recall from our previous issue of the Conservation News, golf courses are Nassau County's largest category of unprotected open space, totaling more than 9,000 acres. The possible failure of private golf clubs and their potential conversion to dense development is a trend that is troubling for many communities. Donald Zucker, who bought the financially troubled North Shore Golf Club last year, intends to preserve it as a golf course. Similarly situated golf clubs cannot count on other white knights like Zucker, however, and must come up with new ways to attract Woodcrest Clubhouse built circa 1916 for James Abercrombie Burden designed by Delano & Aldrich. both members and revenue. (cont. from front cover) The Muttontown Club is one local club that This particular golf course, like many of the golf decided to hire outside management to help to navigate courses in Nassau County, sits on top of the sole source the tricky economic climate. As more young families aquifer and is located in the deepwater recharge zone of spend the weekend attending soccer games rather than the state-designated Oyster Bay Special Groundwater golfing and dining at the local club, revenues at those Protection Area (SGPA). Rainfall and that portion of the clubs have declined. By hiring Troon Golf, a national rain that permeates the ground in significant quantity is firm that manages golf clubs worldwide, Muttontown the sole source of drinking or potable water for Long hopes to benefit from the firm’s experience and Island. As our open spaces disappear, so does our ability discounts in buying power. to protect the quality and quantity of our drinking water. Had NSLA’s bid been successful, a private investor As golf course operators have become more attuned would have purchased the historic Delano and Aldrich to the importance of judiciously applying fertilizers and house, restoring both the house and garden, the Town of other chemicals in order to minimize the impact on the Oyster Bay would have designed a passive use park with groundwater, the importance of protecting the open walking trails and native plants, the Village of space provided by these clubs cannot be overstated. Muttontown would have created a scenic buffer that benefited its residents and a neighbor would have HAPPY RETRACTION: This Publication would like to expanded their backyard. And, most importantly, NSLA would have guaranteed that a significant piece of local extend its apologies to the Engineers Country Club of recharge area be protected in perpetuity. Roslyn Harbor, New York. In the Fall/Winter 2009 edition of Conservation News , we indicated Engineers was The sale of Woodcrest was the impetus for the one of the several clubs of the North Shore of Long Island Village of Muttontown to adopt a moratorium on that might be suffering financial difficulties. development in order to update its master plan. The In fact, we were very pleased to learn the Engineers needs to protect open space, vital to maintain the bucolic Country Club is doing extremely well. They have a robust character of the Village, and to protect the groundwater and active membership with a waiting list of prospective were cited as important reasons for the moratorium. members wishing to join. The financial position of the We are most grateful to both the Village of Club is solid with a significant capital reserve. We are Muttontown and the Town of Oyster Bay for their happy to report the Engineers Country Club is alive and invaluable support in our attempt to protect another well and a leader on the North Shore of Long Island. significant property in the Oyster Bay SGPA. Conservation News Spring/Summer 2010 3 ProgreSS rePort oN Formerly known as the Littauer Family’s Hillside Farm the “Farm” as it is now called is very dear to the heart of NSLA. Our first letter of inquiry about conservation was sent to Mary Littauer on Split Rock Road, Oyster Bay Cove in 2003. And, the conservation purchase by the Town of Oyster Bay in 2007 set a local precedent by being the first Nassau County municipality to place a conservation easement on public land to ensure its second party, permanent protection. So, it is with great pleasure that we present you with this update. The Farm published its first annual report in 2009, including a mission statement which follows: The Farm at Oyster Bay is dedicated to furthering the understanding and enjoyment of horticulture and nature in a farm-like setting. It engages and inspires people of all ages to nurture deep and long-lasting connections to another time in the history of Oyster Bay, Long Island. We visited the Farm last week and were pleased to see that, while some great things had not changed, others were undergoing dramatic change. The beautiful, welcoming entrance was still covered with purple wisteria and orange trumpet vine. And, just inside the Chippendale gate, the walled boxwood garden was still there too, looking quite dramatic after a major, invigorating prune. The rose garden with its angled brick edges has 45 new rose bushes and a freshly painted shed. The Farm will be opened to the public as planned, though not as quickly as first thought. Requirements for safety in public places are quite strict and as a result many dead and dying trees had to be removed with new ones planted in their place.