Featured Letter: MLCA Wanted A Park

When I held an interest meeting at our home in October of 2014, to start a civic association for Mattituck, everyone to a person thought that Mattituck needed a voice to shape the future of our hamlet. So began the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association.

Pictured Above: The property at the corner of New Suffolk Avenue and the Main Road in Mattituck that will now be a park, after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case brought by a company that had wanted to build a hardware store there.

That group morphed into more people attending the first official public meeting in February 2015.

That band of people were driven by their concern for the future of Mattituck.

We did our homework and educated ourselves. We read:

The 1991 US/UK Study, The 1999 County Route 48 Corridor Land Use Study, The 2005 Hamlet Stakeholder Study, the 2004 Mattituck Hamlet Center Study and the 2011 Mattituck Business Corridor Study

We brought in to our monthly community meetings professionals to inform and educate us on Planning, Zoning and Zoning Board of Appeals and how Traffic Studies are conducted. We became informed about Land Use, Smart Growth Principles, Walkable, Pedestrian Hamlets.

We held a Roundtable with Town of Southold Leadership ­— Scott Russell, Bill Ruland Chief Flatley, The Mattituck Presbyterian Church, The North Fork Community Theater, The North Fork Environment Council, The Mattituck Chamber of Commerce. We had a Traffic Calming Project Roundtable with Legislature Al Krupski, State Senator Ken LaValle, State Assembly Anthony Palumbo, Supervisor Russell, to identify the areas of concern for Mattituck.

 We focused on the intersection of Main Road, Sound Avenue, Love Lane and the corner of Main Road and New Suffolk Ave. In fact, it was Bill Ruland who recommended that we take a video of the intersection to present more information. John Carter and I did that.

I called Kevin O’Connor, President of Bridgehampton National Bank, three times to ask about preserving that property at the corner of Main Road and New Suffolk Ave., which they owned, for use as a park (I never got to speak with him).

In February of 2017, we, the MLCA sent a letter to Southold Town officials, recommending the preservation of the property at the corner of New Suffolk Ave. and Main Road for a Village Green as a gathering place, “a heart and emotional center for the community.”

 We held many meetings to inform and educate the community, and Southold Town heard us. In fact, Supervisor Russell would attend many of our meetings, and because he listened to the community, he took action to preserve that corner.

I am writing the above letter, in light of the Supreme Court decision to decline to hear the Brinkmann Hardware’s case against Southold Town. There are a lot of quotes by attorneys for the Brinkmanns’ and the Brinkmanns’ themselves casting doubt on the want for a park. What is missing in this conversation is the voice of the community.

 I wanted everyone to know the work done by the MLCA before that property was sold.

“Never Doubt That A Group Of Thoughtful Committed Citizens Can Change The World: Indeed, it’s The Only Thing That Ever Has” — Margaret Mead

Mary Eisenstein 
Mattituck

The writer is a founder of the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association

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