As far as the Town of East Hampton is concerned, officially, it approved a 39-seat restaurant. However, an investment prospectus sent anonymously to The Star described something much larger. The two-story structure would accommodate 455 people. A roof deck would be a large D.J. venue, “similar to Surf Lodge,” with room for 250 people.
Developers trying to get one over on the town is nothing new. Nonetheless, how a project of this size got past officials has not been explained. The town’s position is that it will come down hard if the hotel tries to go beyond the 39-diner maximum. Why the Building Department has not issued a stop-work order while the disconnect is sorted out is also a mystery. But this is not what had been nagging at the back of my mind.
I stopped at the Montauk I.G.A. Tuesday evening on my way back to Lazy Point from working on my sailboat Cerberus at Uihlein’s. Parked on the north side of the highway at Puff and Putt, I finally figured it out. According to predictions about the local effects of sea level rise, the entire area will be underwater within the century.
In a town-commissioned study close to a decade ago, the town determined that an elevated causeway would have to be built at the entrance to downtown Montauk to replace a low-lying portion of Route 27. How low-lying is it today? Just 18 inches above the surface of Fort Pond, about the distance from the sole of your shoe to your knee. When this comes to pass, the hotel restaurant, if it’s still standing, will be waterfront.
At some point, dumping new sand on the beach will no longer be enough. A 2021 study commissioned by the town found a high potential for a breach between Fort Pond and the Atlantic. Anyone who has studied the risk has said that downtown Montauk can remain as-is, where-is.
How officials continue to allow large-scale development in a place where the inevitable is so obvious is the biggest disappointment of all.