Marion Carll Farm - Commack's History Or Is It History?

By Chad Kushins and P. Biancaniello

Bldg. on Marion Carll FarmMarion Carll Farm is in the news again for all the wrong reasons.  There is a tug-of-war going on between the Commack School District, Marion Carll’s heirs,  Commack Community Association (CCA) and Friends of Marion Carll Community Farm (FMCCF). 

Currently the Marion Carll Farm belongs to the Commack UFSD. The heirs of Marion Carll have filed a lawsuit accusing the district of violating the terms of Marion Carll’s bequeath and would like to see the property revert to them.  The CCA and FMCCF have been working to preserve the estate. The two organizations were championing the reuse of the property for an equestrian center and educational facility for the Association For Help of Retarded Children (AHRC). The district was finalizing negotiations with the AHRC before notification of the lawsuit was received.

The CCA and FMCCF fought an attempt (2010) by the district to sell the property to the Holiday Organization of Westbury, developers of The Hamlet in Commack. A referendum on the proposal to sell the property for $750,000 was held June 24, 2010  the proposition was defeated.  

In March of this year seventeen of Marion Carll’s heirs took legal action against the Commack School District and New York State.

In response to the lawsuit brought about by the heirs of  Marion Carll, the Commack School District filed a 24-page memorandum stating the district’s position on its ownership of the 9-acre plot of farm land where Carll once lived. 

The District’s response was announced at the June 14^th Board of Education meeting by Superintendent of Schools Donald James, who, reading from a prepared statement, claimed that the district’s actions are both to end the land dispute brought on by family members of Carll, and also to remove certain restrictions in the late woman’s will which dictate the land’s future usage.

“[The property] was conveyed to the Commack Union Free School District in 1969 from the Estate of Marion Carll,” said James, reading the district’s statement.   “The deed was subject to the life estate of Alberta Ketcham Jenkins, Marion Carll’s niece, who resided in the house until her death in 1993 … The deed also contains several conditions restricting the use of the Property for historical and educational purposes.

 “If any of these conditions are violated,” James concluded, “title to the property reverts to Marion Carll’s heirs.” The district’s legal response was not available to the public at the meeting.  After some discussion the BOE agreed to have the document posted on the district’s website.   

The ongoing dispute became publicly heated in March of this year when Marion Carll’s heirs filed a lawsuit in Suffolk County Supreme Court, claiming that the district had largely underutilized the property since being handed the deed in 1969, thus making the school district susceptible to accusations of mismanagement – a direct violation of the will’s stipulation that could give the acreage right back to Carll’s family, represented by Huntington attorney Arthur Goldstein.

Initially, the Commack School District formally announced that they would not comment on the matter, nor respond to the Carll heirs’ lawsuit at all, prompting an outpouring of criticism from residents and civic leaders alike.  The lack of action also prompted a strongly worded letter from Commack Civic Association President Bruce Ettenberg who, representing the association, threatened the district with legal action against the board and its members if the matter wasn’t taken seriously.  “If the District is not willing to meet and discuss the matter with us then we are prepared to take legal action against both the District and personally against each trustee and the Superintendent,” Ettenberg stated in his May 31^st letter.  “We hope such will not be necessary.”

Part II Thursday