Here is an article, straight from The Pine Barrens Society's newsletter, about Suffolk county's foot dragging on preservation.
CLASH ON PRESERVATION PLAN
Levy Attacks Over Challenge to Preservation Rate
A live television discussion about land preservation turned into a confrontation which spilled
off the air when Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy took umbrage at charges by Pine Barrens
Society Executive Director Richard Amper that Levy was too cozy with developers and wasn’t
buying open space and farmland fast enough.
The occasion was a special edition of News 12’s “At Issue” discussion forum, broadcast live
August 10. The Society and more than 100 other environmental, civic and business groups,
including Levy, signed onto a plan advanced by The Nature Conservancy to save 35,000 acres of
open space and farmland before final build-out of Long Island, projected by planners for 2015.
Titled: “The Race For Open Space,” the News 12 programming featured a three-part, indepth
series examining whether or not Long Island government was moving fast enough to secure
25,000 acres of open space and 10,000 acres of farmland — about half of the total number of acres
still “up for grabs,” before all land is either developed or preserved. The issue has become more
urgent since Lee Koppelman, for four decades Director of the Long Island Regional Planning
Board and head of the Center for Regional Policy Studies at Stony Brook concluded that while
build-out is expected in 2015, land use decision-making will occur by 2010.
Amper told the television audience that meant that to preserve 35,000 acres in three-and-ahalf
years, the rate of combined state, county and town preservation would have to increase to
10,000 acres per year. Levy bragged that under his administration, Suffolk has preserved more than 1000 acres per year, nearly twice that of his predecessor, Robert Gaffney. Amper has pointed out,
“clearly that’s still not enough.” Environmentalists have called for extending state, county and town
funding programs to at least 2030, so that government can “buy now and pay later,”
on the strength of future revenues before land prices go any higher or the land is lost forever
to development.
Another guest on the program, Robert Wieboldt of the Long Island Builders Institute
complained that government land purchases were driving up the cost of land for more development
and panelists argued about the need for preservation and that for affordable housing. Long Island
leaders have agreed that this is a false choice since affordable housing is properly built in downtown
areas and not in open spaces or on farmland. In fact none of the 35,000 acres targeted for preservation
is planned for affordable housing. “The reason developers don’t build affordable housing,” Amper
said on the broadcast, “is that they make more money building unaffordable housing.” The Regional
Planning Board has estimated that of one million homes on the Long Island landscape, only 3000 can
be considered affordable to those making 80 percent or less of the average regional income.
The conversation became heated at points but exploded near the program’s end. In response to a
phoned in question from a viewer, Amper said elected officials including Levy had to get off the fence
and side with the public instead of the special interests before Long Island’s economy and environment
are undermined. He pointed out that Levy had accepted more than $35,000 in campaign contributions
from developers in the last three months alone. Levy visibly bristled and a shouting match began
between the County Executive and the Society’s director. The moment the program ended, Levy
jabbed his finger at Amper and said, “You’re dead. Our relationship is over. Don’t even bother calling
my office ever again.” Then he stormed off the set and out of the studio.
The confrontation made news for weeks with News 12 re-broadcasting the show and clips of the
heated verbal exchange and Newsday relating the conflict in its Sunday political column. Amper concluded,
”This isn’t personal; if Suffolk continues to buy 1000 acres-a-year for the next three-and-a-half
years, we’ll end up preserving 3500 acres when everybody agrees we need 35,000.
CLASH ON PRESERVATION PLAN
Levy Attacks Over Challenge to Preservation Rate
A live television discussion about land preservation turned into a confrontation which spilled
off the air when Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy took umbrage at charges by Pine Barrens
Society Executive Director Richard Amper that Levy was too cozy with developers and wasn’t
buying open space and farmland fast enough.
The occasion was a special edition of News 12’s “At Issue” discussion forum, broadcast live
August 10. The Society and more than 100 other environmental, civic and business groups,
including Levy, signed onto a plan advanced by The Nature Conservancy to save 35,000 acres of
open space and farmland before final build-out of Long Island, projected by planners for 2015.
Titled: “The Race For Open Space,” the News 12 programming featured a three-part, indepth
series examining whether or not Long Island government was moving fast enough to secure
25,000 acres of open space and 10,000 acres of farmland — about half of the total number of acres
still “up for grabs,” before all land is either developed or preserved. The issue has become more
urgent since Lee Koppelman, for four decades Director of the Long Island Regional Planning
Board and head of the Center for Regional Policy Studies at Stony Brook concluded that while
build-out is expected in 2015, land use decision-making will occur by 2010.
Amper told the television audience that meant that to preserve 35,000 acres in three-and-ahalf
years, the rate of combined state, county and town preservation would have to increase to
10,000 acres per year. Levy bragged that under his administration, Suffolk has preserved more than 1000 acres per year, nearly twice that of his predecessor, Robert Gaffney. Amper has pointed out,
“clearly that’s still not enough.” Environmentalists have called for extending state, county and town
funding programs to at least 2030, so that government can “buy now and pay later,”
on the strength of future revenues before land prices go any higher or the land is lost forever
to development.
Another guest on the program, Robert Wieboldt of the Long Island Builders Institute
complained that government land purchases were driving up the cost of land for more development
and panelists argued about the need for preservation and that for affordable housing. Long Island
leaders have agreed that this is a false choice since affordable housing is properly built in downtown
areas and not in open spaces or on farmland. In fact none of the 35,000 acres targeted for preservation
is planned for affordable housing. “The reason developers don’t build affordable housing,” Amper
said on the broadcast, “is that they make more money building unaffordable housing.” The Regional
Planning Board has estimated that of one million homes on the Long Island landscape, only 3000 can
be considered affordable to those making 80 percent or less of the average regional income.
The conversation became heated at points but exploded near the program’s end. In response to a
phoned in question from a viewer, Amper said elected officials including Levy had to get off the fence
and side with the public instead of the special interests before Long Island’s economy and environment
are undermined. He pointed out that Levy had accepted more than $35,000 in campaign contributions
from developers in the last three months alone. Levy visibly bristled and a shouting match began
between the County Executive and the Society’s director. The moment the program ended, Levy
jabbed his finger at Amper and said, “You’re dead. Our relationship is over. Don’t even bother calling
my office ever again.” Then he stormed off the set and out of the studio.
The confrontation made news for weeks with News 12 re-broadcasting the show and clips of the
heated verbal exchange and Newsday relating the conflict in its Sunday political column. Amper concluded,
”This isn’t personal; if Suffolk continues to buy 1000 acres-a-year for the next three-and-a-half
years, we’ll end up preserving 3500 acres when everybody agrees we need 35,000.