Open space: Preserved land provides ‘iconic’ view
The Reporter continues with its series on Island open space properties this week with the Lawnsdale parcel.
WHERE IS IT?
The former Lawnsdale property sits on Dickerson Creek and is located on the northern border of Graces Lane. The small lot, just 1.2 acres, is shaped like a boot. The property’s border extends 113 feet north of the intersection between Grace’s and Ian’s lanes and then turns east to the creek.
The northern border of the property runs 345 feet east and then turns south at the waterfront, forming the heel of the boot and then extending 222 feet along Dickerson Creek. The lot then curves around the boot’s toe along Grace’s Lane and then back to the intersection of Ian’s and Grace’s lanes.
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
Most of the lot is covered in dense, largely impassable brush and is dotted with trees. The “boot” of the property where it meets the water has been recently cleared and is more easily accessible.
A bulkhead that was built many years ago sits on the property’s waterfront edge and small brush has grown over its side.
WHAT’S ITS HISTORY?
The land was once owned by John Snyder, an industrialist in the 1940s and 50s. When Charles F. Huschle III subdivided 14 acres of that land in 1974, he didn’t have enough money leftover at that time to build roads within the subdivision as required by the Planning Board, former Supervisor Al Kilb Jr. told the Reporter. So Mr. Huschle traded what would become the Lawnsdale property to an asphalt company on the North Fork in exchange for building the roads.
That property changed hands a number of times and was eventually purchased by Jennie Magaro of Southampton. The town agreed in August to purchase the lot with Suffolk County using open space funds. The total cost, $1.2 million, was split evenly between the town and the county. The purchase also took $4,100 from the Island tax roll.
HOW WILL IT BE USED?
The August 20, 2007 resolution reads that the acquisition is in the best interest of the community in the protection of Dickerson Creek but could also be used for general recreation. “That Lawnsdale property is really a great piece of land,” Mr. Kilb told the Reporter, and it helps protect the water supply on the peninsula with a particularly fragile aquifer by not allowing a house to be built on that property.
That land could do more than temper development on the Island and protect the aquifer, town Councilman Glenn Waddington said. “I could see artists stopping off there to paint because it’s got a fabulous view of Dickerson Creek … it’s just an iconic Shelter Island view.” Some people are reluctant to spend open space funds on anything but acquisition, but Mr. Waddington suggested that clearing a small patch of land and putting a picnic table on it would be essentially maintenance-free and “provide a nice stopping-off spot.”
