Suffolk lawmakers to vote on new designation for controversial Islandia horse farm
By Carl MacGowan
Updated June 21, 2021 7:49 PM
Suffolk County lawmakers on Tuesday are expected to vote on adding an Islandia horse farm to the county agricultural district after a previous approval was thrown out by a state Supreme Court justice.
Pal-O-Mine Equestrian on Old Nichols Road has sought the designation for a section of the farm that it purchased several years ago. The nonprofit farm, founded 27 years ago in Nassau County and moved to Islandia in 2007, provides therapy and educational and vocational programs for 400 weekly clients. They include disabled adults and children, military veterans, public school students and survivors of trauma and abuse, executive director Lisa Gatti said.
But Islandia Village officials have raised objections to the county plan in court and before the legislature, citing a state justice’s ruling last year that the Suffolk County Legislature in 2019 had improperly approved the farm’s inclusion in the district.
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