North Shore Land Alliance closer to buying 5 acres connecting to Red Cote Preserve in Oyster Bay Cove

A nonprofit will be able to purchase 5 pristine acres of land in Oyster Bay Cove after the state awarded it $1.29 million for the acquisition, setting the stage for the expansion of the neighboring Red Cote Preserve.

The grant will be used to buy the Oyster Bay Cove property from the Pulling family, which has owned the land for more than a century, said Lisa Ott, president of the North Shore Land Alliance, a Mill Neck nonprofit.

The plot is adjacent to the Red Cote Preserve, a 30-acre Nassau County-owned property, and another 50 protected acres of land on the opposite site of Northern Boulevard. The 5 acres will serve as a natural corridor for wildlife, conservationists have said. 

Last summer, officials with the nonprofit said they were raising money for the purchase, which would shield the property’s woodlands and open fields from development. The nonprofit would manage the site, which lies within a special groundwater protection area and where development is not recommended.

Long Island is home to nine special groundwater protection areas, which were established in the 1980s to help policymakers decide which areas should be guarded from development. 

“When you protect land, particularly where we live with the sole-source aquifer, you protect the water source,” Ott said in a phone interview. “If you don’t have open land, the rain and the snow can’t recharge the aquifer."

The money came from the state's Department of Environmental Conservation Water Quality Improvement Project program.

DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton said in a news release  the funding “will help our municipal partners achieve meaningful reductions in flood risk, protect drinking water, improve aquatic habitat, and safeguard residents from increasingly severe weather events.”

John v.H. Halsey, president of the Peconic Land Trust, said in a statement the ability to acquire land that has "a direct impact on our water quality" on Long Island is "critically important."

In February of last year, the North Shore Land Alliance struck a deal with the Pulling family that gave the nonprofit a year to come up with the money to buy the land. Without the funding, officials said the site could be sold to a developer.

The purchase is expected to cost around $1.5 million. With the infusion of grant funding, Ott said the nonprofit will extend the one-year option to buy the land until the state releases the money.   The nonprofit will use the remaining capital from its funds to maintain the property in perpetuity.

Ott said it will cost the nonprofit between $10,000 and $15,000 annually to steward the land.

“Despite the initial price of the property, there are so many other costly factors that are incorporated into taking on land like this," Ott said.

While the site won’t be fully open to the public, the nonprofit expects to organize nature and educational walks through the property, Ott said.

Nassau County established the Red Cote Preserve through multiple land purchases. The county acquired 16 acres for $6.5 million in   2006, then spent $3 million for just over 7 acres and $2 million for another 6 acres, Newsday has reported. 

Charles Goulding, the mayor of Oyster Bay Cove, said the village supports the planned purchase. He said most residents prefer the site remain undeveloped.

"Our residents like having the sanctuaries," Goulding said.

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ