The struggle became a race between application approvals for the developers on one side, and Southold town zoning reformation or public purchase on the other. It would take the better part of the decade. Before it ended, it involved the Southold Town Board, Planning Board, and Trustees; the New York State Department of State, Department of Health, and Department of Environmental Conservation; the Suffolk County Planning Department, Department of State and Department of Health Services; the Suffolk County Legislature, and three County Executives.
I am grateful to Anne Hopkins for sharing her file on the Orient Association, to Amy Folk and Bill McNaught for their generous professional assistance, and to Andrew Olsen and the folks at the Suffolk Times for their invaluable help with my research for this exhibition.
-Freddie Wachsberger