Another Condo Proposal
Units would overlook the North Haven bridge
(9/25/2008) With the review of condominiums at the old Bulova watchcase factory completed and the construction of condominiums on West Water Street under way in Sag Harbor, the village planning board and the community have turned their attention to another proposal for condos. The proposed 18 units, at 1, 3, and 5 Ferry Road, could prove to be the most controversial yet.
 Taylor K. Vecsey
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The review process under the State Environmental Quality Review Act began with a formal scoping session at which the public had the opportunity to suggest potentially significant environmental impacts that the condominiums could cause. East End Ventures, owned by Michael Maidan, proposes to demolish the Harborview Professional Building and another smaller building on waterfront property to the west of the bridge to North Haven. Mr. Maidan wants to build 18 condos in a 43,000-gross-square-foot, three-story building with an in-ground swimming pool, walkways, a 36-car parking lot, and 18 boat slips.
The planning board, which is leading the review, adopted a positive declaration under SEQRA on Aug. 26. However, Rich Warren of InterScience, who works as the village consultant on such proposals, said the scoping hearing was not mandatory, but was appropriate given the type of development.
The application drew dozens of community members from the village, North Haven, and Noyac, who packed the small boardroom. But Mr. Warren warned the crowd, “This is not to discuss the merits of the project. And I want to repeat that.” He went on to tell the crowd that “the primary goal of scoping” was “to address the potentially significant impacts that are relevant or nonsignificant.”
The opportunity for people to voice their personal opinions would be for another hearing, he said.
Neil Slevin, the board chairman, told the crowd, “We really learned a lot in the Bulova application and probably the most valuable thing, or one of the most valuable things, we learned was how important public input was.”
Jeffrey Bragman, an East Hampton attorney hired by a newly formed group, Save Our Waterfront, an offshoot of Save Sag Harbor, came prepared with pages of concerns and questions regarding different parts of state and village codes, including the Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan.
As he rattled off each concern, Mr. Warren interrupted him. He wanted to know if he could have the concerns in writing. “I just want to know I’m not going to miss anything,” Mr. Warren said, adding that he was “frantically” trying to write down everything Mr. Bragman said.
Among Mr. Bragman’s concerns were the question of ownership of easements that once belonged to the Long Island Rail Road, and the ownership of bottomlands and navigational channels, which have never been totally clear. “We want this information to be clear, legible, and clearly understood so we can roll through these issues easily,” Mr. Bragman said. He added that the maps the applicant had submitted were not detailed enough.
Public access to the water and the scenic views were also important topics, he said. The property, he said, is “the jewel in the crown of Sag Harbor,” with views to and from multiple locations.
The proposal would make “a massive manmade alteration of this shoreline area and near-shoreline area that violates the L.W.R.P. policies,” he said. He also likened the style of the proposed building to “a mid-island garden apartment.”
Mr. Bragman said the developers should do archaeological studies of the property, since it was once wetlands, and an ecology assessment of the water to inventory species of shellfish, fish, and coastal birds. “Unless we know the baselines, you can’t take a hard look at the potential impacts.”
Pierce Hance, the former village mayor who lives on Main Street, also spoke about the L.W.R.P. He even joked that he should read it into the record, but instead suggested a few policies the board should consider.
“Visual quality is carried through this document in its entirety,” he said. One of the visual perspectives that the L.W.R.P. notes as one to preserve is the view of the bay from the bridge, which the proposal threatens, he said, to disturb.
Nat Egosi, who owns the Sag Harbor Inn on West Water Street and lives on Princeton Road, both of which are not far from the proposed condos, said he was worried about the potential economic failure of the project and its effect on the village. “Vacant or unsold condominiums would bring an unsettled feeling to our tourist trade,” he said.
“What mitigation measures would be made to avoid bankruptcy?” Mr. Egosi asked. He further wondered if the condos could be turned into rental apartments or hotel rooms if they didn’t sell.
Christie Brinkley, the well-known model who lives in Bridgehampton and owns waterfront property several hundred feet away on the shoreline from the proposed condominiums as well as property across the bay on North Haven, also spoke to the board. She said she is concerned about runoff from the property and the presence of old oil tanks that are supposedly buried beneath the property.
Members of the Noyac Citizens Advisory Committee were also concerned about the proposal’s effects. Julia Penny said that the group was particularly concerned about the effect on the village sewage treatment plant that she said has been “a perennial question” every time a new condominium complex is discussed.
Stephen Longmire, who lives on North Haven, said that the scoping process should also consider the impact on neighboring communities. During the summer the traffic going into the village often backs up over the bridge and into North Haven.
With the condominiums being built at the foot of the bridge, traffic might increase, he said. “We’re all going to be driving through Noyac [as an alternative route] to get to Sag Harbor in the summer.”
The planning board closed the scoping session, but kept the record open for 7 to 10 days in case anyone wanted to write with their concerns. It will hold a work session to discuss the proposal on Oct. 16 at 6:30 p.m.
Custom House
In other news, the planning board approved a subdivision for the property that includes the Custom House on Main Street. The approval was the final step in the process of Southampton Town buying a part of the property from the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities.
The Southampton Town Board had voted to buy 2.5 acres of land for $775,000 from the community preservation fund. The acquisition includes an easement on the property’s front lawn for $25,000, with the rest of the money going to buy wetlands to the north of the building.
Mr. Warren told the planning board that the SPLIA property was “pork chop shaped” and included a fair amount of wetlands. The subdivision application, filed on Aug. 18, divided the property into two lots that Anthony Tohill, the planning board’s attorney, called “a two-lot minor subdivision” that separates the most northerly parcel from the most southerly while leaving the Custom House as is.
The agreement allows for the conservation of the property and its continued use as a historic site, Mr. Warren said. “It’s a nonevent so to speak,” he said.