18 January 2007

NEWS; STARBUCK'S LAND NOT FOR SALE (TIMES OF MIDDLE COUNTRY)

A 13.2-acre plot of land Suffolk County Legislator Joseph Caracappa (R-Selden) promised to restore for the community of Selden remains in the hands of its private owner, because he is unwilling to sell it, according to the legislator.

“Owners are in contract with someone else and are not interested in a sale to the County,” an email from an aide to Mr. Caracappa said. The owner of the land, who lives in Florida, could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Caracappa’s campaign for the preservation for the “Starbucks property”—a privately owned area surrounding the Selden Starbucks on Route 25—dates back to 1995, when he wanted to place the Suffolk County 6th Precinct there. Since the Precinct was placed elsewhere, Mr. Caracappa shifted his focus to more community-centered proposals for the property, including walking paths and fields for child recreation.

Mr. Caracappa proposed a resolution in the Suffolk County Legislature in February 2005 for acquiring the land for “use as playground, ballfields (sic), and/or other community recreational needs for the captioned property.” County Executive Steve Levy (D-Coram) signed the resolution. “We wanted to make it a town center for people to gather together,” Mr. Caracappa said.

“The plan was for the county to purchase the land and for the county to enter into an agreement with the town of Brookhaven to develop the preserve,” Mr. Caracappa said. “We would also enter into agreements with civic associations, little leagues and schools to clean and maintain the county park.”

“The county sent a letter to the owner, asking the level of interest in selling the property to the county for development,” said Mr. Caracappa. “The letter has a checklist, and he checked ‘uninterested,’ so we never made a monetary offer.”

“The county has much more flexibility when purchasing land,” Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Kathleen Walsh said. “Counties can purchase land and create parklands out of it, while towns are only allowed to preserve green areas.”

The land is near secondary schools in the Middle Country School District, and Ms. Walsh said the schools saw use for the land as well. “The cross country teams would have a place to run,” she said. “Right now they run through residential neighborhoods because they can’t just run on a track.”

The land is mostly zoned as residential property,” said Mr. Caracappa. “If the plot was to be changed to commercial zoning, the value would increase, especially along the Route 25 corridor because they would want to put stores there.”

The 13.2-acre plot is the largest local open space in both Mr. Caracappa’s and Ms. Walsh’s respective districts, which in fact are nearly identical in both size and location.

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