Now available: Three Village Conservation Strategies 2030 Report (TVCS-2030 Report) is at the Emma S Clark Memorial Library Reference Desk and will be made part of the Library’s Long Island Collection.  Copies are also available at cost from the Trust (price list is at Headquarters).  A pdf version may be downloaded from this website [link pending].

           The TVCS-2030 Report is the result of the multi-year efforts of a diverse Working Group of community members invited by the Trust to inventory the natural, cultural, historic, social, and economic resources of the Three Villages and plan strategies for preserving its unique qualities.

             As the Trust gears up efforts to reconvene the Working Group to carry out the TVCS-2030 planning project’s recommendations for the future of the Three Village area, we would welcome the help of anyone who’d like to get involved.  Please let us know of your interest by calling 689-0225, writing to PO Box 2596, Setauket, NY 11733,

             The Trust invites you to examine the Report and submit comments and suggestions.  Consider joining the Working Group that will be reconvened in the near future. [  ] Download comment form[i].  The Group will be asked to broaden participation in this community-based planning process and to help transform the goals and recommendations contained in TVCS-2030 Report into action plans.

About the Three Village Conservation Strategy 2030 Project: 

             In 2008, the Three Village Community Trust began a planning process intended to address the challenges accompanying growth in our community.  It was and is a community-based planning process based on two fundamental principles:  putting conservation first in land-use planning, and empowering the community through participation in both the planning and implementation processes. 

            The TVCS-2030 project was designed to parallel Brookhaven 2030, the Town of Brookhaven’s major revision of its Master Plan for zoning, land use, and infrastructure.  It is also the continuation of the planning process begun by the Three Village Hamlet Study 1997.  The TVCS-2030 project, described below, focused on conservation.  A major goal of TVCS-2030 project was and continues to be to work with a broad group of community leaders to refine and transform its ideas into actions, including sponsoring public forums and other activities to involve the wider community.  The TVCS-2030 Report is the Working Group’s initial one.  It is a working document and is intended to be a guide for continued community action.  It was submitted to the Town in 2010 and is on its website along with other hamlet and corridor studies. 

            How it started: In 2008, with a NYS Environmental Protection Fund grant, the Trust retained a highly qualified planner with both environmental and regional planning credentials, Valerie S. Scopaz.  She guided a Project Steering Committee of the Trust that planned the approach to the task which was to establish a Conservation Strategies Working Group and recruit representatives and community leaders from different segments of the community, including local business, service, civic and environmental groups, as well as public officials.  Over 60 invitations were sent out initially and, even as the Group met, other people were identified and invited to join.  The Working Group met monthly for more than a year (2009 and into 2010) to draft a shared conservation vision and goals and ideas about what and how to protect the special community assets and values that make up the unique character of the Three Village area.  It discussed the entire Three Village area – not singling out any one portion or specific project and developed a comprehensive inventory of protected properties that described the nature and degree of their protection.  The Group also discussed criteria to be used in selecting potential targets for conservation and effective conservation tools and strategies, with recommendations for future action.

            Next Steps:  The TVCS-2030 Report is a work-in-progress and a tool. The Trust expects the Working Group to evolve into an on-going “council” that will continue to implement, build upon, and adapt the initial plan as circumstances change as well as report on progress.  As always, the Trust’s goal is to preserve the quality of life in the Three Villages, while accommodating growth that enhances the community but doesn’t destroy our natural and cultural resources.

            Thus the next step is to reconvene the Working Group and reach the broader community for feedback and ideas.  This could include at least one community outreach workshop to present the report, solicit additional information, and provide a forum for the community to contribute to the revisions and action/implementation plans.  It is our hope that engaging the community in the planning activities will help lead to purposeful actions guided by shared vision and goals. The TVCS-2030  Report can be used by all as a sort of “recipe book,” so that any local organization or group can blend or coordinate its usual activities with those of other organizations, thus leveraging our respective strengths to the benefit of all. 

            Funding for the TVCS-2030 Project:  The Trust received a $10,000 NYS Conservation Partnership Program grant administered by the Land Trust Alliance Northeast Program for the initial project.   Brookhaven Town support secured by Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld, the Civic Association of the Setaukets and Stony Brook, and Avalon Park and Preserve also provided additional matching funds.  The Trust raised additional money through its own fundraising efforts.