Southold Town and the owners of the Greenport property housing the Island's End Golf and Country Club agreed to a deal last month that protects the land from future development, Newsday reported on Thursday.
The town purchased the development rights to the 127-acre property beside Long Island Sound for $5.1 million, according to Newsday, preserving it for use as a golf course and protecting wildlife on the site. The purchase was facilitated by the Peconic Land Trust.
Newsday's Jean-Paul Salamanca broke down the specifics:
Under the deal, the King and Turner families ’97 who own most of the property ’97 and the golf course will retain ownership of the land, subject to the restrictions of the town easement. This means that if either the golf course, which owns roughly about one-third of the property, is discontinued or the families decide to discontinue their arrangement with the golf course, the town would be able to make sure the property is used for either farming, a similar golf course or passive recreational uses such as a trail, Sanford said.
Catherine Chaudhuri, president of Island’92s End Golf & Country Club, said the golf course’92s board and shareholders ’93are thrilled our public course has been preserved.’94
Mary M. Pacinda-Turner, a property owner representing the Turner family, said in a statement that her late husband, Robert Turner, would be ’93very proud that his father’92s legacy will now continue to be enjoyed by the community that he so loved.’94 — Jean-Paul Salamanca, Newsday, 1/2/2020
Southold is at least the third Long Island township in recent years to enact or propose measures designed to protect golf courses. Brookhaven created a zoning category called "golf course district" in 2017 that permits only golf, catering and other related facilities to be built on site, and in 2018, Hempstead proposed a similar designation in an effort to prevent development of sensitive wetlands areas.
Island's End is best known for the scenic par-3 16th, which overlooks Long Island Sound from atop a bluff. For more on the Greenport course, check out the Island's End flyover.