County preserves ‘Sports East’ property on Main Road in Mattituck

Twenty acres along Main Road in Mattituck will remain undeveloped after the Suffolk County Legislature approved a property acquisition at its general meeting Tuesday.

The parcel is located just east of Old Main Road and abuts properties along Sigsbee Road. It had previously been pitched as the site of Sports East, a multi-sport athletic facility that would have featured a gym, indoor and outdoor turf fields and tennis courts, an indoor pool, indoor running track, yoga platforms and batting cages.

The property hit the market in 2017, about a month after the Southold Zoning Board of Appeals upheld a notice of disapproval that found the proposed sports facility did not meet the definition of a membership club.

At a Town Board work session earlier Tuesday, Southold officials approved a resolution to enter into a maintenance management agreement with Suffolk County, who will purchase the property for $1.4 million.

Under the agreement, the town agreed to improve and maintain the property as a passive park.

Supervisor Scott Russell described the property as “pristine,” and noted that the town had originally offered to partner in order to purchase the wooded parcel.

Legislator Al Krupski (D-Cutchogue) said Tuesday afternoon that it was an important parcel to preserve.

“The traffic implications of [developing] something there…it would have made a big difference on the Main Road,” he said.