Oyster Bay hires surveyor to find preserve boundary at Stillwell Woods Park
Stillwell Woods Park in Syosset earlier this month. Credit: Newsday/James Carbone
Oyster Bay has hired a surveyor to mark the boundaries at Stillwell Woods Park and Preserve in Syosset, a nearly 300-acre property the town is set to take control of following state approvals.
The Nassau County Legislature in January approved the transfer of the preserve and park, which includes ballfields used for youth sports, to the town for $1. The town had leased the park section of the property from the county for decades but has never controlled the preserve. Environmentalists objected to the proposal, saying there weren't enough protections in place to prevent future development on the open space.
Detractors of the exchange said there isn't a formal boundary between the park and the preserve. Before county lawmakers approved the transfer last year, an attorney for the town said there was no need to conduct a survey. The town eventually committed to retaining a surveyor to map out the property.
The Oyster Bay Town Board voted 6-0 to approve a resolution during its Sept. 9 meeting to pay GdB Geospatial of Melville $97,000 to complete "a full boundary survey of Stillwell Woods Park," town documents show. Brian Nevin, a town spokesman, said in an email the survey should take about six weeks to complete.
Environmentalists said the move is a positive step but urged that the results be independently scrutinized.
Guy Jacob, conservation co-chair of the South Shore Audubon Society, said the survey, when completed, "needs to be publicly accessible and reviewed by a competent independent party."
Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said the town is “working with all the stakeholders to ensure Stillwell Preserve is permanently protected.”
“The survey now underway is to clarify the boundary between the two areas as the preserve is legally protected, and the Town will not expand fields into that space,” Saladino said in an emailed statement. “Any suggestion otherwise is incorrect.”
Ron Ganz, who lives near the Stillwell property, said it's unclear “what the future plans are” for the park given that a "significant amount of money [is] going to be put into the property.”
The town and county are expected to contribute $6 million apiece toward upgrades as part of the transfer agreement. The agreement still requires sign-off from the State Legislature.
A petition titled "Save Our Stillwell Woods Preserve" has more than 1,600 signatures. The petition calls for the town to survey the property, present "a detailed project proposal" that shows how the $12 million will be used and agree to "a strong additional protective covenant" that protects the preserve.
The surveyor will conduct an on-the-ground assessment of the property and review existing boundary records such as old deeds and maps, town records show.
The issue of where the park’s boundary ends and the preserve’s boundary begins was a point of contention at past meetings held by the Nassau County Open Space and Parks Advisory Committee. That committee, which plays an advisory role in county land deals, voted against recommending the transfer to county lawmakers in December, Newsday has reported.
The same month, the Nassau County Planning Commission voted to approve the transfer.
The town has tried to secure Stillwell in years past. The latest transfer attempt comes after Syosset school district voters rejected a referendum in 2021 that would have allowed Nassau to convey 35 acres of Stillwell Woods Park to the school district.
Government shutdown likely to drag on ... Trump blocks $18B in rail funding ... Nostalgia at Comic Book Depot ... What's up on LI
Government shutdown likely to drag on ... Trump blocks $18B in rail funding ... Nostalgia at Comic Book Depot ... What's up on LI
