Town, county to preserve sod farm land

Vincent Sasso, owner of DeLea Farms, holds a fresh head of broccoli near his farm stand in East Northport. (Sept. 15, 2011) Credit: Daniel Brennan
The Town of Huntington hopes to team up with Suffolk County to preserve one of the largest working farms left in the county's western end.
The DeLea Sod Farms, in operation since 1928, has occupied 26 acres off Elwood Road in East Northport since 1932. Vincent Sasso, treasurer of the family corporation, said developers have pushed for years to subdivide the land for housing.
"We've had a lot of pressure from builders," said Sasso, 72.
While so far the family has resisted doing anything with the land other than farm it, the town and the county are hoping to preserve that activity forever by purchasing development rights to the property.
"Crop farms of this size are extremely limited in the Town of Huntington," said Margo Myles, coordinator of open-space conservation for the town. "Most of the farms that have been in agricultural production like this have been threatened by development."
Currently, the DeLea farm grows crops, not sod. The family sells the produce, including tomatoes, corn, and eggplant, at a small stand on Elwood Road. They also have land in Miller Place as well as in New Jersey, where the company grows the sod for Yankee Stadium.
About 30 years ago, the family had plans drawn up to subdivide the farm into plots for about 19 houses, Sasso said, but they ultimately let the idea go.
"We don't want to see more traffic, more houses," he said.
Huntington will hold a public hearing Tuesday during its town board meeting on whether the town should acquire development rights for the farm.
Meanwhile, Legis. Steve Stern (D-Dix Hills) has introduced legislation that would authorize the county to use Suffolk County Drinking Water Protection Program funds to purchase development rights.
"The DeLea Sod Farm has been in operation for obviously decades," Stern said. "Not only is it environmentally sensitive property, but it's really critically important to preserving our agricultural heritage."
That legislation will likely be considered next month, Stern said.
If the town and county approve purchasing the development rights, they will conduct a joint appraisal of the land and make an offer to the family. The plan would still allow the family to farm there, but the property would be permanently off-limits to development.
Myles said the idea also needs the approval of the Suffolk County Farmland Committee, which evaluates farmland development-rights acquisitions for the county.
Sasso said even if the town-county purchase doesn't go through, he believes his family will continue to resist the lure of development.
"We've been here since the '20s," Sasso said. "I know we're definitely going to hang in there."
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