Dering Harbor open space a family legacy
The Reporter continues with its series on town open space this week with an overview of preserved land acquired from the Hunt family.
WHERE ARE THE LANDS LOCATED?
The two former Hunt family properties are located on either side of Manhanset Road, just north of Our Lady of the Isle Cemetery. The western property is 13.6 acres and extends just over 1,100 feet north from the entrance of the cemetery and about 1,000 feet west from the road. The second plot, a 17.1-acre of land east of Manhanset Road, reaches about 1,000 feet north along the east side of the road starting from the entrance to the cemetery and extends about 700 feet east from the road.
WHAT ARE THEY LIKE?
Both lots are completely undeveloped. The western open space property is mostly woodland but contains some wetlands in the western part of the lot, including part of a small creek. The eastern lot is entirely wooded and slopes slightly to the west. Both properties are gently rolling and covered with natural growth.
WHAT IS THEIR HISTORY?
Since 1947, both properties have been covered in natural growth and show no sign of previous structures or development, according to aerial photographs.
Esther and Bridg Hunt, the previous owners, offered to sell the western property to the town, and in April of 2000, the town passed a resolution to buy it with money from its two-percent fund. Suffolk County agreed to split the purchase with the town, and they evenly shared the $300,000 cost of the land, a bargain sale price. The deal closed in December 2001.
Suffolk County also evenly split the cost of the second property, $2,086,200; the town again paid from its two-percent fund. The town passed a resolution to purchase it in August 2004 and the deal closed in September 2005.
Ownership of the properties is divided between the county with 50 percent and the Village of Dering Harbor and the Town of Shelter Island with 25 percent each.
The western property was named the “Mildred Flower Hird Nature Preserve” in 2005, in honor of Mildred Flower Hird, Esther’s mother. The title bears both her name and that of S. Ainsworth Hird, Mildred’s husband and a previous owner of the property. In a 2005 letter requesting that the town name the property, Esther Hunt wrote of her mother: “Although she was a shy individual, she cared about beauty and about animals and would probably be happy to be connected with that piece of woodland.”
HOW WILL THEY BE USED?
Both are being used as passive open space. The primary purpose of preserving the land is to help regulate development on the Island and preserve the aquifer, but those lands can also be used for hiking, bird watching and picnicking, according to the town’s resolutions that authorized the purchases of those properties. The town has not yet passed a stewardship plan for the properties.
But perhaps the most important aspect of the open space properties is that they will preserve the feel of the area, exactly as it’s existed for generations. Instead of a corridor of homes, those travelling down that strip of Manhanset Road will continue to enjoy the acres of calm, untouched land for many years to come.
