Southampton Town announced several deals for land acquisition and preservation this week.

On Tuesday, the Town Board added a few more acres to its holdings, approving the purchase of Gull Estates—50 acres of wetlands owned by William Swan on Shinnecock Bay in East Quogue and Quogue—for $5.3 million from the Community Preservation Fund.

The board also voted to acquire the Bridgehampton Community House and its 2-acre parcel for a the bargain price of $1. Residents of the Bridgehampton Park District will pay a tax to foot the maintenance bill for the building, and the town will lease it back to the Bridgehampton Community House Association for $1 per year.

Supervisor Patrick Heaney also announced plans this week for the town to purchase more than 4.5 acres in Southampton for affordable housing. On Friday, the town announced its partnership with Suffolk County and New York State to preserve 300 acres of pine barrens land near Gabreski Airport.

Board Tables Permit

At the request of a community member hoping to hold a competing event, the Town Board tabled a resolution to issue a special event permit to Stella Shows, an antiques dealer asking to host two shows at the Bridge Hampton Historical Society on Montauk Highway this summer.

Antiques dealer and show promoter Jean Sinenberg, who has hosted antiques shows across the street at the Bridgehampton Community House for the past 28 years, asked the board to table the resolution so she could offer to make the same donation to the Historical Society that Stella was planning to make—roughly $10,000 per show.

Town Board members Nancy Graboski and Linda Kabot asked Friday that the resolution be tabled because the scale of the proposed antiques shows was so large. But the society and the applicant had mitigated the concerns, and the board was prepared to vote.

The board agreed to table the resolution until a special meeting on Friday, so Ms. Sinenberg could contact the Historical Society.

More Casino Cash

The Town Board allocated another half million dollars on Tuesday to continue Southampton's fight against the development of a Shinnecock Indian casino. The town has now spent close to $1 million on the legal battle.

The money will pay the Boston firm of Nixon Peabody to continue to challenge the Shinnecocks' effort to build a casino. It will also be used to pay other firms that have been researching the history of the tribe. The money is being allocated from a special fund created for the casino court case out of the town's surplus.

Canal Gets Grant

New York State announced this week that it has awarded a $100,000 grant to the town for the improvement of the Shinnecock Canal Park in Hampton Bays, just north of Montauk Highway on Newtown Road.

The town received the grant after submitting a Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan for the area that will include improved facilities and new projects to point out the importance of the canal. The overall plan includes the construction of a maritime museum and walkway along the canal. The grant will help fund the planning of the project.

Two New Agricultural PDDs

The Town Board approved the creation of two special agricultural zones for the Foster family this week, guaranteeing the preservation of the land for the next 10 years.

The Fosters' fields, located on either side of Sagaponack Main Street, will become the One Potato and Two Potato Agricultural Planned Development Districts. The Fosters have agreed not to develop their farmland for the next 10 years, and received an assurance from the town that their current underlying zoning will remain in place. The town will have the first chance to purchase the development rights of the farmland after the 10-year period.