Oakwood Road Nursery in Huntington closes, to become subdivision

Gardeners in search of spring plantings at Oakwood Road Nursery in Huntington will be surprised to find it is closed permanently and is now the future site of a four-lot housing subdivision.

Donna Bemiss, who has owned the nursery property since 1985 with her husband, Robert, said the couple is retiring.

“It’s been a wonderful experience,” she said in an interview with Newsday Thursday.. “The customers we’ve gotten to know over the years, who really appreciate us and have always patronized our business. I'll miss them all.”

The retail garden center at 223 Oakwood Rd. was known for its seasonal and colorful curb appeal featuring blooming flowers, plants and garden art and ornaments.

The couple, who live in the Harborfields Central School District and are in their 70s, decided not to reopen this year, she said. A seasonal operation, the nursery employed up to 15 people at times.

Huntington Town officials said the 3-acre site was approved for a four-lot subdivision by the town’s planning department in August 2022.

According to the approved map submitted with the application, in addition to the four new homes on the site, a legal-three family dwelling in a farmhouse built in 1760 will remain. Another existing building on the site will be used as a garage with storage.

Bemiss declined to elaborate on a timeline for development of the parcel.

“That's going to be determined,” she said. “We would like it to happen and it’s something we have been working towards.”

Town spokeswoman Christine Geed said no one has applied to the town for building permits.

Bemiss said the couple had been working since 2001 to subdivide the property for development.

Town officials said the couple’s request to go from 1-acre zoning to half-acre zoning was approved in 2001. They submitted a subdivision application to the planning board in 2006 that was finalized in August 2022.

Donna Bemiss has a longtime connection to the property. In the late 1960s her father bought the last three acres of a 45-acre farmstead on Oakwood Road and eventually leased it to a couple who started a nursery. Donna’s father took over operation of the nursery, later passing ownership to the Bemisses.

The farmhouse on the property received local historic designation in 2004, Town Historian Robert Hughes said.

The couple was honored last year at a celebration hosted by the Huntington Historical Society for their stewardship of the nursery and support of the society. The nursery was known for offering a wide variety of plants, trees, shrubs and evergreens.

Stephanie Gotard, executive director of the Huntington Historical Society, said the couple generously donated goods to society events such as the annual apple festival over the years.

“The nursery closing is a big loss to the community,” Gotard said. “It was just such a pleasant experience to go there professionally and as a customer.”

The nursery property’s neighbor to the north, Andrea Hemme, said she will miss the beauty the nursery brought to the neighborhood, but there is an upside.

“Hopefully it will ease the traffic and all the cars parking in front of my house, a lot of times blocking my driveway,” she said Friday morning as cars whizzed past her house. “I won’t miss that.”