Riverhead, Suffolk eye deal to preserve 145-acre waterfront camp

Riverhead Town is weighing a land deal that could protect a key 145-acre property on Sound Avenue and expand public access to Long Island Sound.

The property, for decades owned by Nassau County, is currently home to the Dorothy P. Flint 4-H Camp. Under the proposed deal, Riverhead would partner with Suffolk County and the Peconic Land Trust, a nonprofit that has preserved more than 14,000 acres of land, to purchase the site.

A potential sale, officials said, is a rare chance to connect protected lands by the camp and prevent development along an important rural corridor. Town board members met with Suffolk Legis. Greg Doroski (D-Mattituck) and Julie Wesnofske, senior project manager at the Peconic Land Trust, Thursday morning to discuss the deal.

A map presented by the land trust proposes that Riverhead acquire 36 acres on the northeast side of the camp property. The town already owns two properties immediately south that comprise the 15-acre Sound Avenue Nature Preserve. Those properties were purchased in 2006 using $2.1 million in community preservation funds, according to town records.

Adding the 4-H camp property would link the preserve to Long Island Sound.

“I see this as a really, almost a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Town of Riverhead to acquire a Sound-front parcel with access to the beach,” Doroski said Thursday, while urging the town board to act quickly.

Wesnofske said Nassau plans to sell the site but did not provide a timeline for striking a deal.

Nassau County officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“Nassau County is going to sell this parcel no matter what. … They have given the land trust first crack at trying to come up with some way to purchase the property from them,” Wesnofske said Thursday. She said the land trust also plans to keep the existing 4-H camp running.

Large land block

Wesnofske said the property is surrounded by other large blocks of preserved land, including Cornell University’s Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center across the street.

“It’s a block of almost 1,000 acres of preserved land with this big piece sitting in the middle of it, still not preserved,” she said. The property has ecological value with grassland, meadows, forested areas — habitat for birds and endangered species and waterfront access.

Suffolk would buy development rights on 40 acres fronting Sound Avenue, ensuring they can remain farmed, Doroski said. The land trust is working to preserve the remaining 68 acres through private fundraising and potential state grants. Officials declined to discuss potential sale prices publicly, citing the need for appraisals and ongoing negotiations.

Century of history

The sleepaway camp celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2024 and is the oldest established 4-H camp in New York, Newsday has reported. Dorothy P. Flint launched the summer camp for Nassau County in 1924 at Lake Panamoka, in Ridge, and Wildwood State Park, in Wading River, before relocating to her mother’s Sound Avenue property in 1939, according to a published camp history. Nassau County bought the property from Flint in 1949, the report said. 

The town plans to order an appraisal of the property, a preliminary step toward a potential purchase.

Riverhead board members have embraced the effort and say they envision passive recreation at the site, which could include additional trails or future campsites.

Councilwoman Joann Waski, who helped advance the preservation effort with former Legis. Catherine Stark, said the board should seize on the opportunity. “We are foolish if we do not pay direct attention to this,” Waski said.