A Golf Range Is Preserved

In a move that Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman called among the first of its kind, the town is preserving the Southampton Golf Range on County Road 39 in Tuckahoe through the community preservation fund. The town purchased a recreational easement on the 13-acre property for $6.5 million in a deal that closed on Friday.

The easement allows for the continuation of the existing uses: a golf range, a miniature golf course, a peddle-cart track, and a seasonal ice-skating rink.

While 4,040 acres in the Town of Southampton have been preserved through the C.P.F. since it was established in 1999, the only other recreational property acquired was the Poxabogue Golf Center in Sagaponack.

“We wanted to make sure it stays affordable. It’s kind of an unusual agreement,” Mr. Schneiderman said at a work session last Thursday. The Southampton Golf Range has been a family-owned-and-operated business since 1957, and the Hansen family has no plans to stop.

Councilman Stan Glinka said he had already received a lot of positive feedback from the community about preserving such “an iconic place.”

The preservation of the property also maintains the mostly open vista on the property. That area of County Road 39, a main corridor to the rest of the South Fork, is zoned highway business and could have become a car dealership or a restaurant, Mr. Schneiderman said. Under the recreational easement, 80 percent of the property must remain open.

The town will have control over the types of recreational activities allowed and the fees charged.