View of Cleared Land From Montauk Highway
In Southampton, a movement to preserve 13 undeveloped acres high above
Shinnecock Bay was given a lift Tuesday evening when the Town Board
postponed approval of variances on the property for 30 days. The land is
believed to be a sacred burial ground by Long Island native tribes.
Southampton Supervisor Patrick Heaney said the Board needs more
information about the project.
Town approval would have created a new sub-division. The delay will allow
more time for on-going efforts by the Town and Suffolk County for purchase
of the property for preservation.
Professor Emeritus John Strong of Long Island University is an historian
specialising in the Native peoples on Long Island. He spoke in favor of preserving
the land.
Dr. Strong said the archeological survey done at shallow depths was
"not as thorough as required". He said "Archeologists have a predictive model
for these burial sites, archaic burial sites about 4000 years old, and they tend to be
on the eastern slopes of high hills. Because these burial sites were sometimes 6 to 8
feet deep some kind of magnetic resonance survey should be done on it. "
Lisa Votino-Tarrant of Shinnecock spoke for the Inter-Tribal Historic Preservation
Task Force. She says approval of the sub-division conflicts with the Town's desire to
purchase the land from developer Robert Romeo.
She said "..the land was not preserved since Mr. Romeo was asking for too much money.
Now that they're sub-dividing it the land is worth a lot more. It's 13 continuous acres
overlooking Shinnecock Bay. It just has beautiful scenic and cultural value"
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This report was filed for WPKN Local News heard Monday-Friday on
WPKM Montauk 88.7 and WPKN Bridgeport at 89.5
View of Cleared Land From Montauk Highway
