Suffolk County approves working waterfront protection law | Long Island Business News

The Suffolk County Legislature unanimously approved legislation Wednesday to safeguard the county’s working waterfronts, protecting more than 2,400 acres of commercial waterfront property. 

The law establishes a Working Waterfront Committee to oversee conservation easements, ensuring that properties historically used for marine purposes remain dedicated to industries such as fishing, aquaculture, boat building, marine repair and other maritime businesses, according to a legislature statement. 

Co-sponsored by East End Legislators Ann Welker and Catherine Stark and known as the “Working Waterfronts” bill, the measure is backed by $9.5 million in capital funding from 2026 through 2028. 

Suffolk is home to nearly 3,000 marine-related businesses employing over 38,000 residents and the legislation aims to protect local jobs and small businesses, while preserving access to docks, boatyards and marine facilities. 

Some of the impetus for the bill was concerns about the sales of waterfront properties on the East End. Last year, Gosman’s Dock in Montauk was sold for $34.35 million to founders of the private equity firm Black Diamond Capital Management. 

Similar to the county’s 51-year-old farmland preservation program, the county will be able to purchase development rights for waterfront property which would remain privately owned but ensuring its future use within the maritime industry. The legislation received strong support from the area’s commercial fishing industry, which generates tens of millions of dollars annually, boosting tourism and perpetuating a vital Long Island heritage. 

“The economy of Long Island began with fisherman who risked their lives making a living on the sea has been facing challenges for decades,” Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine told LIBN. “Establishing a working waterfront is a tremendous step in helping preserve that way of life and bolster our blue economy. Thank you to my partners in the legislature who supported this legislation, as we could not do this without partnership. I am very excited to see how this program will bolster this historic and important industry.” 

Once signed into law by Romaine, the measure will create a 17-member committee to oversee the program and review property owner applicants. While dwellings and buildings will be excepted from the conservation easements, “docks, piers, wharves, packhouses, ice houses, and other ancillary structures that support operation of commercial fisheries businesses, aquaculture businesses, or the recreational fishing and boating businesses, and their customary accessory uses, may be included in the conservation easement subject to the approval of the county legislature,” according to the bill.