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A proposal to allow farming at the historic Osborn Homestead in Wainscott is drawing opposition from residents and civic leaders who say its agricultural use would threaten the site’s environment and rural character. Alek Lewis reports in NEWSDAY that the Town of East Hampton acquired the 30-acre property from billionaire Ronald Lauder in 2024 for $56 million, the largest purchase ever using its Community Preservation Fund. The town is developing a management plan for its public use that says part of the property could be licensed for agricultural purposes.

That prospect became a flashpoint at a recent East Hampton Town board hearing, where residents said modern farming practices could damage the property’s historic character, open-space views and nearby Wainscott Pond. Esperanza Leon, president of the Wainscott Heritage Project, said heavy machinery, large-scale irrigation and other modern agricultural operations don’t fit with the site’s “historic character.”

“We need clear, enforceable restrictions that prioritize the homestead as a heritage site first, ensuring that any agricultural activity is low impact, sustainable and respectful of the property's primary historic mission,” Leon said. “Preservation is not about freezing time. It is about managing change and ensuring that the most important pieces of our past aren't compromised or erased by the present.”

The Osborn family started farming the land in 1675, after English settlers arrived in the area in the mid-17th century. The family grew potatoes there through much of the 20th century before shifting to strawberries until 1994, according to the town. In recent decades, the property has remained largely fallow and is now mostly meadow.

East Hampton Town Councilwoman Cate Rogers said she supports farming on the property, but only if it preserves the open-space view and does not adversely affect the environment.

The town purchased the land for its open space, historic significance, agricultural use and to protect water quality. “I don't think any of our usage should usurp or be in conflict with the other reasons that we bought the property,” Rogers told NEWSDAY.

Kim Quarty, executive director of the Wainscott-based Friends of Georgica Pond, urged the town to prioritize the health of Wainscott Pond.

“We do not support agricultural practices on the property that would contribute to increased nitrogen loading,” Quarty said. “Traditional fertilizer-intensive agriculture poses a clear and documented risk to the pond.”

She said the Town of East Hampton should consider “low impact and emerging agricultural models that minimize ... or eliminate nutrient runoff” like beekeeping and snail farming.

Bruce Wayne Solomon, of Wainscott, said the Osborn Homestead’s open-space view is “rare” and should remain protected.

“In a place that changes as quickly as the Hamptons, that brief feeling that you somehow stepped back into 17th century is something special,” he said. “And once a view like that disappears, well, it's not exactly something we can rebuild later with a permit, a ribbon cutting and a few truckloads of asphalt.”

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Riverhead’s anti-bias task force is caught in a dispute regarding its mission and oversight following the resignation of Riverhead Anti-Bias Task Force chairman Mark McLaughlin. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that a longtime member’s near-resignation further reveals the widening dispute over whether the town-appointed body is still being allowed to do the proactive education and outreach work many members see as central to its mission.

McLaughlin, who was appointed chairman in September 2023 as part of a Riverhead Town Board overhaul of the task force, said he resigned last month because restrictions placed on the group left it unable to respond meaningfully to bias-related concerns in the community.

Longtime member Connie Lassandro, who earlier this month said she had decided to resign for similar reasons, said this past Thursday that she’d changed her mind after discussions with Town Board member and task force liaison Denise Merrifield and fellow task force member Marjorie Acevedo. Lassandro said she agreed to remain on the task force for now, so long as its mission is not altered and it continues to engage in education, outreach and prevention work.

At the center of the dispute is a basic question: Is the Anti-Bias Task Force supposed to work proactively to address prejudice through public programs, outreach and education, or should it act only in a more limited, reactive role when specific complaints arise.

A resolution adopted by the Riverhead Town Board in 2015 to re-establish the task force following a period of inactivity, set forth the purpose of the task force: “to assist this government in identifying issues related to prejudice or bias…”

The resolution also said the task force would serve in an advisory capacity to the Town Board, to make “recommendations as to the direction the Town can take in combating bias and improve social conditions for all and further a proactive means to eradicate various forms of social oppression.”

A Town Board resolution adopted in 2021 requires the task force to submit in writing all recommendations for events, programs, co-sponsored activities, publications, announcements, policies and funding requests to the Town Board for review and approval before taking action —including events or programs to be co-sponsored with other departments, schools or government agencies.

That dual structure — a body charged with broad anti-bias work but subject to Town Board oversight — has been a source of tension before.

Riverhead Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin, who took office in January, said that he intended to review the task force’s bylaws and history and speak with ABTF liaison Council Member Merrifield before responding further.

Halpin said he still believes the Anti-Bias Task Force is important to the Town of Riverhead.

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