Mattituck voters approve sale of Pike Street parking lot in landslide
Mattituck Park District residents overwhelmingly approved a proposal to sell the Pike Street parking lot in Mattituck to Southold Town in a referendum last Tuesday.
The vote was 95 to 7 in favor of selling the land for $230,000.
The park district acquired the lot for $2,500 in 1948 pursuant to a special park district referendum, but the 1941 state legislation that created the district requires that it either develop a park on the .75-acre parcel “or divest itself of the parcel,” according to park district attorney David Prokop.
Since the land was never developed as a park, the district decided to sell it.
“We really had no business ever being in the parking lot business, so it’s very refreshing that the people of Mattituck allowed us to do the transfer,” said park district commissioner Jerry Goehringer, co-chair of the three-member commission.
The next step is for the town and the district to close the sale, he said.
The park district owns and manages several parks and beaches in Mattituck and Laurel.
Southold Town already authorized the sale and issued a $250,000 bond, which includes costs like title searches and surveys, and that bond was not challenged in a 30-day permissive referendum, according to town attorney Bill Duffy.
“We have received the contract,” Southold Supervisor Scott Russell said by email after the vote. “If everything goes well, we would hope to be able to close 30 to 45 days from the signing.”
