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Located in the far northwestern corner of the Town of Southampton, Riverside is arguably the most economically distressed community in all of Suffolk County. The Town of Southampton, its master developer and community stakeholders have established the Riverside Revitalization Action Plan and adopted a form-based code to provide a roadmap for revitalization. Funding parters include the Long Island Community Foundation, which supported community engagement and organizing; the NYS Zombie and Vacant Property Remediation/Prevention Initiative for code enforcement and community outreach; NYSDEC for a sewer map and plan; NYSDEC Environmental Justice program for a park plan and public health survey; NYSDEC for invasive species removal; NYS Local Waterfront Revitalization program and Empire State Development (ESD) for park planning and development; NYS ESD's Restore New York initiative to incentivize redevelopment of blighted commercial properties; USEPA Brownfield Program for Phase II Environmental Site Assessments; and more. Work is ongoing as progress on the revitalization plan continues.

Image courtesy Renaissance Downtowns

For decades, Lake Agawam, in the heart of historic Southampton Village, has experienced recurring harmful algal blooms (HABs) and fish kills. We worked with the community to secure multiple awards over a decade totaling in excess of $1.5M for planning and construction projects recommended by the Lake Agawam Comprehensive Management (2009), the NYSDEC HABs Action Plan (2020) and the Stony Brook University School of Atmospheric and Marine Sciences. Work is ongoing, with attention turning from the past focus on stormwater remediation to in-waterbody controls and groundwater remediation, including permeable reactive barriers and wastewater treatment. Wastewater treatment planning is being conducted in coordination with economic revitalization plans for the community. Funding partners have included Suffolk County, Town of Southampton Community Preservation Fund, NYSDEC, NYS ESD, NYSDOT, the Lake Agawam Conservation Assocation, and its successor organization, Lake Agawam Conservancy.

Photo courtesy Tim Corwin