November 2025

By now, it is likely that you are aware of Gyrodyne’s announcement over the summer that it had entered into an agreement to sell the undeveloped open space at Flowerfield Fairgrounds to a prominent developer. The announcement came just months after the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation offered to purchase the land from Gyrodyne for preservation; and  

while the Peconic Land Trust was taking initial steps to become directly involved in discussions with Gyrodyne to achieve the community’s goal of seeing Flowerfield Fairgrounds preserved as open space. Importantly, the battle to prevent Gyrodyne from moving forward with its subdivision of the property remains tied up in court.

While Gyrodyne’s announcement came as a disappointment, the sale of the property is not a done deal!  A review of the details contained in the complex Purchase and Sales Agreement reveals that the sale to the developer cannot move forward unless a series of conditions are met – some of which appear to be difficult for Gyrodyne to achieve.

Among other things, those conditions include:

1. Under the agreement, the sale cannot move forward unless the Suffolk County Health Department (SCDHS)  approves and issues a permit for Gyrodyne’s proposed sewage treatment plant, which experts have warned would negatively impact water quality in Stony Brook Harbor.  Since the County supports the preservation of the property as open space, it is not clear that this condition can be met.
2. The sale cannot move forward unless and until the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency approves tax benefits for the developer’s project, which include a Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) deal to exempt the project from property taxes, mortgage tax, and sales tax exemptions. Since there is no guarantee that such a generous tax deal will be approved for the developer when the County supports preservation of the property, it is not clear whether this condition can be met.
3. The sale cannot move forward unless and until Gyrodyne achieves “final approval” for its subdivision plan, which is still tied up in court.

Simply put, it remains to be seen whether the explicit conditions required for the sale of Flowerfield Fairgrounds to the developer can ever be met. For that reason the Coalition, the Peconic Land Trust and other stakeholders who support the preservation of Flowerfield Fairgrounds as open space will continue to pursue all options to work cooperatively with Gyrodyne, the Peconic Land Trust, and our elected officials to make sure that our goal of preservation is realized, and that commercial development in the Mills Pond National Historic District does not move forward.

Your past donations have been critically important in the successful effort to protect the rural character of the Route 25a corridor by slowing the development approval process while speeding up efforts to achieve preservation. As you consider worthy causes for year-end giving, please consider making a contribution to the Coalition’s legal fund, so that we can be prepared for future challenges as they arise.