Much of Manorville, a Suffolk County hamlet, lies in the Central Pine Barrens, so what a lot can become depends on whether it is in the Core Preservation Area or the Compatible Growth Area. Here is how that works for Manorville homes, in plain terms for buyers and owners doing due diligence on a lot.
TL;DR
- According to the Central Pine Barrens Commission, new development in the Core Preservation Area needs a Commission hardship waiver. The Compatible Growth Area allows limited development under town codes that carry the Plan's standards.
- Manorville lies in both the Town of Brookhaven and the Town of Riverhead, and each has its own Pine Barrens code.
- ECL Article 57 lists additions to an existing residence as non-development. Pools are not named in the law; check with the Town and the Commission.
- Clearing caps in the Plan and the Riverhead code are keyed to zoning, not parcel size, and previously cleared land counts.
Table of contents
- Is Manorville in the Pine Barrens? Core vs Compatible Growth Area
- Manorville Pine Barrens by town: Brookhaven or Riverhead
- How much of a Manorville Pine Barrens lot can be cleared?
- Can you add an addition or pool in the Manorville Pine Barrens?
- When the Pine Barrens Commission reviews a project
- Title, survey, and covenant checks before contract
- Next steps for a specific Manorville lot
Is Manorville in the Pine Barrens? Core vs Compatible Growth Area
Many people know Manorville's Pine Barrens through its preserves and trails, and preservation is still active. According to Riverhead News-Review reporting on April 30, 2026, the Town of Brookhaven acquired 152 wooded acres in Manorville in 2023, part of the roughly 700-acre Rose Breslin properties between Brookhaven Airport and the Long Island Expressway, and the Town Supervisor asked the governor in March 2026 for a state partnership to preserve the rest of the proposed Pine Ridge Preserve. The rest of this guide covers parcel rules.
According to the Commission's public Q&A page, the 1993 Long Island Pine Barrens Protection Act split the region into two parts:
- Core Preservation Area. New development is prohibited unless the Commission grants a hardship waiver after a formal application and public hearing. Owners can also look at Pine Barrens Credits or a sale for preservation. The Commission's Plan page links a Core Roadfront Residential Parcel Exemption List of Core parcels that do not need Commission approval for a single family house.
- Compatible Growth Area (CGA). Limited development is allowed under Chapter 5 of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, which Brookhaven, Riverhead, and Southampton have written into their codes.
A 1993 Manorville hamlet study posted on the Town of Brookhaven website placed much of the land north of the Long Island Expressway and County Road 111 in the Core and the area to the south in the CGA. Boundaries have been amended since, and the Commission's parcel-location page says the law's boundary descriptions, not a map, decide a parcel's status. That page is the check-your-parcel step: it explains how to find the Suffolk County tax map number on a Brookhaven or Riverhead tax bill and how to ask the Commission to confirm whether a parcel is in the Core, the CGA, or partly in both.
Manorville Pine Barrens by town: Brookhaven or Riverhead
Manorville lies in both the Town of Brookhaven and the Town of Riverhead. Riverhead's comprehensive plan update lists Manorville among its 11 hamlets. The town line decides which code and building department apply.
- Brookhaven: the Central Pine Barrens District is in Chapter 85, Article XXV (Overlay Districts), Sections 85-718 through 85-726.
- Riverhead: the Pine Barrens Overlay District is Article XLI of Chapter 301. Section 301-196 prohibits development in the Core unless the Commission issues a hardship exemption, and Section 301-197 sets CGA standards, including its own clearing table.
How much of a Manorville Pine Barrens lot can be cleared?
For development project sites in the CGA, Chapter 5 of the Plan (Standards and Guidelines for Land Use, April 19, 2023 says:
- Previously cleared land counts. New plus existing clearing cannot exceed the Figure 5-1 percentage, measured over the whole site.
- Figure 5-1 is keyed to zoning lot size (as of June 28, 1995, or current zoning if more protective), not the parcel's actual size: for example 53% for one acre zoning, 35% for two acres, and 25% for four to five acres and up. The table notes that more restrictive standards may be imposed.
- Fertilizer-dependent vegetation, including lawn, is capped at 15% of a development project site.
- Relief requires a CGA hardship application.
Riverhead's Section 301-197 lists 35% maximum clearing for its RB80 and APZ districts, counts already cleared areas, caps fertilizer-dependent vegetation at 15%, and says relief from clearing requirements on individual lots needs a CGA hardship application.
A July 20, 2022 Commission agenda listed a Manorville CGA hardship hearing on a request to go from a 35% clearing limit to 45% for a horse arena on a 2.4-acre lot with a house. Going past a cap means a hearing, not a quick sign-off.
Can you add an addition or pool in the Manorville Pine Barrens?
ECL Section 57-0107(13) defines development to include "material alteration of grade or vegetation on a parcel of land." It lists as not development, among others:
- Alteration of an existing structure, or additions to an existing residence.
- Use of dwelling land for purposes customarily incidental and otherwise lawful.
- In the CGA, single family homes and customary accessory uses on a lot held on June 1, 1993 singly and separately from adjacent lots.
So an addition to an existing house is on the non-development list, though the Commission's Q&A page notes non-development can still need Town approvals. A pool is not named in the law; check with the Town and the Commission, including how any clearing or regrading around it is treated.
When the Pine Barrens Commission reviews a project
Per the Commission's Q&A page, CGA development is generally reviewed only by the Town when it meets the standards, unless it sits in a Critical Resource Area, is a Development of Regional Significance, or the Commission asserts jurisdiction. In the Core, ECL Section 57-0121(10) requires extraordinary hardship or compelling public need, and a Commission permit does not replace town and state permits.
Title, survey, and covenant checks before contract
The Pine Barrens map is only half the picture. The Commission's own Q&A page says restrictive covenants, easements, and buffers required by a municipality or another agency may also apply. Those show up in title work and surveys, not on a listing sheet.
For a buyer with plans for the land, these documents answer the early questions:
- Current survey showing cleared area, structures, tree line, and easements from the title work.
- Covenants and restrictions in the chain of title. Subdivision approvals can carry restrictions that run with the land, which title work shows.
- Permits and certificates of occupancy for what is already there, such as a pool, deck, or addition.
- Core or CGA status and town line for the tax map parcel, confirmed through the Commission's parcel-location process and the Town.
- Pine Barrens Credit or conservation easement history, since the Commission notes Credit sales place a conservation easement on the land.
Next steps for a specific Manorville lot
For offers and contingencies, see buying a home step by step. Buyers can book a buyer consultation, and owners weighing a sale can start with selling a home step by step or a home value estimate.
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