After months of discussion and public outcry over the possible loss of much-needed parking near Love Lane in Mattituck, voters will turn out next week to cast their ballots on selling the parcel to Southold Town.
A meeting of the legal voters of the Mattituck Park District will be held on Tuesday, July 14, from 5 to 8 p.m.V oting will take place at the Mattituck Park District office, located at Veterans Memorial Park, 11280 Peconic Bay Boulevard., in Mattituck, to vote on the sale of the .6533-acre parking lot parcel, located at 630 Pike Street, Mattituck, New York, also known as SCTM #1000-140-3-5, to the Town of Southold for the sum of $230,000. All voters must be registered to vote in either the hamlet of Laurel or Mattituck.
A bill authorizing the Mattituck Park District to discontinue use of the land as parkland on Pike Street and to sell the land passed both the Senate, on June 16, and the Assembly, on June 18.
At a town board meeting last month, the Southold town board unanimously approved a resolution authorizing and directing Supervisor Scott Russell to execute the contract of sale for the Mattituck Park District for the purchase of the Pike Street parking lot.
“We are ready to honor the contract and purchase the property,” Russell said. “This is predicated on the voters of the Mattituck Park district granting our permission to do so. Assuming the referendum passes, I am sure both sides are anxious to complete the sale.”
The Southold Town board held a special town board meeting in May to pass a resolution authorizing the acquisition of the Pike Street parking lot, at a maximum cost of $250,000.
The purchase will be financed through bonding.
In April, after escalating concerns from the public that the always crowded parking lot could be sold or roped off, the Southold Town board voted to begin negotiations to buy the parcel from the Mattituck Park District — with an eye toward ensuring it will remain a much-needed parking solution in an area where spots are at a premium.
“We are very committed to ensuring that its use continues as a parking lot,” Russell said.
That’s good news, according to Mary Eisenstein, president of the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association; members want the area to remain a parking facility.
And, according to Mike Ryan, commissioner of the Mattituck Park District, that was always the goal.
The park district, Ryan said, is not, according to New York State law, entitled or sanctioned to operate a parking lot. “We’re sanctioned to operate parks, not a parking lot, so our choice is simple. According to law, we either have to convert it into a park or have to sell it.”
He added, “We feel very strongly that it should stay there as a parking lot.”
The special meeting was held because the town is “committed” to the purchase and and hopes to conclude the transaction soon, Russell said; some residents questioned holding a special meeting for the vote.
