Southold Considers Historic Designation of Main Road

Southold Town might soon take steps toward preserving Main Road's historic heritage.

At Tuesday's Southold Town board work session, Supervisor Scott Russell said a recommendation was received from the town's landmarks preservation commission to establish a historic district along Route 25.

The new designation, if adopted, Russell said, would mirror a similar move made in Riverhead to preserve and protect historic properties along Route 25.

Southold Town currently has a historic preservation law, Russell said, that covers only a few geographic areas in town, including sections of Orient and a stretch of Main Road.

In the past, homeowners volunteered to place their historic homes on state and federal recognition lists. 

If adopted, the new policy would mean that all the designated properties would receive historic designation and homeowners would no longer be able to choose to go that route voluntarily.

"It's more geographic than site specific," Russell said.

Southold Town Councilwoman Louisa Evans said the issue has come up before but met with a less than favorable response. "Maybe people are more amenable now," she said.

Russell said after embarking upon extensive research, he believes there are "a lot of compelling reasons why you would want your commercial property designated as historic," including tax abatements and other incentives."But under the current code, that's your decision. This would force benefits on you."

Evans said many residents feel a historic designation will "force them into doing certain things or prevent them from doing things," such as knocking down a wall in their historic homes. 

"That scares people," she said.

Councilman Bill Ruland said he owns a historic home. "And I don't have any interest in a mandatory designation."

Many Southold residents, Councilman Chris Talbot said, have voluntarily chosen to keep their older homes. "They don't knock them down like they do on the South Fork. People choose to keep and preserve them; that's one of the things we're lucky to have here," he said.

Russell distributed a copy of the recommendation to the board and said the matter would be fully vetted at a later work session.

Would you like to Main Road in Southold designated a historic district? Share your thoughts in the comments section.