Over 3,000 Syosset residents have signed a petition in support of the Stillwell Woods Preserve, seeking to keep the 287-acre area as it is and prevent future development.
The “Save Our Stillwell Woods Preserve” petition had 3,123 signatures, as of Monday, Jan. 26, saying that the transfer of the land to the Town of Oyster Bay from the county will “open an unprecedented door to decimating wildlife habitat and picturesque trail vistas in a perpetual preserve that rests atop a special groundwater protection area.”
Ron Ganz, a Syosset resident who said he has advocated for the Stillwell Park and Preserve for 25 years and began the recent petition, said the handling of Stillwell Woods has not gone as residents were initially told ever since the town acquired the property from the county.
The Nassau County Legislature unanimously approved the transfer of the preserve to the town earlier in 2025. As part of the agreement, the Stillwell Park and Preserve would receive a total of $12 million in upgrades.
Ganz said that despite the agreement saying a survey was needed of the land, town officials initially told him that there would be no survey.
Ganz said that in July 2025, he met with legal representatives from the Town of Oyster Bay to discuss the future of the preserve and said he was told by the town that the county did not want to invest more money into the athletic fields, leading to the transfer.
The town announced in September 2025 that it was hiring GdB Geospatial of Melville to survey Stillwell Woods Park and Preserve. The town initially said it was going to take five to six weeks to complete the survey, but months later, the survey is still incomplete.
Ganz said he has tracked the survey markers in the preserve and has not found markers between the fields and wooded areas.
“The survey of Stillwell Park and Preserve is taking longer than anticipated because accuracy and compliance with protective covenants are critical to protecting both the public and the natural resources of the preserve,” town spokeswoman Marta Kane said in an email.
She said the town remains committed to completing the survey and moving forward with its plans for the park “as quickly — and responsibly — as possible.”
Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino previously called Stillwell Woods Park and Preserve “a special place in our community” and said the town is committed to permanently protecting the area.
The town said the survey is to clarify the boundary between the two parks’ athletic fields and preserve.
“The preserve is legally protected and the town will not expand fields into that space,” Saladino had previously said. “Our priority has always been — and will continue to be — safeguarding open space so that families, athletes, and nature lovers can enjoy Stillwell for generations to come.”
Ganz said several organizations, including The Sierra Club, have publicly supported the protection of the Stillwell Woods Park and Preserve and that nearby residents don’t want the area to be turned into development property.
“We have over 3,000 people for a local community thing. 3,000 people are significant,” Ganz said.
Environmentalists have also called the well-being of the Stillwell Woods Park and Preserve’s future into question as well.
The Nassau County Open Space and Parks Advisory Committee had discussed the transfer several times before voting against recommending the transfer to county lawmakers in December 2024.
The committee had said there weren’t enough protections in place to prevent future development on the open space at the time of the vote.
The transfer was also denied twice by the community over the previous two decades.
In 2021, Syosset residents rejected a referendum that would have allowed Nassau County to transfer 35 acres of Stillwell Woods’ parkland to the Syosset School District.
In 2008, Nassau County attempted to transfer authority over a series of parks and preserves, including Stillwell, to the Town of Oyster Bay, which also fell through.
