Retail food stores will be allowed to provide seating for up to 16 people, under a law passed on Friday by the East Hampton Village Board at a meeting held via teleconference.
The seating can be either inside or outside, so long as the outdoor chairs and tables are on privately-owned property. Stores must serve their products in disposable containers and with disposable utensils, and are not allowed to have wait staff or provide table service.
During its previous discussions of the law, board members made it clear that it was intended to encourage people to spend more time in the commercial district.
“This will be great for the vibrancy of the village,” Rose Brown, a trustee, said on Friday. Mary's Marvelous, opposite the train station, and the Juice Press and East Hampton Market, both on Race Lane, are some of the food stores that could benefit from the new law.
The board also passed a law requiring the owners of new residences, and existing residential and commercial properties that have fire and police alarms, to install a lock box for a key that will let emergency personnel access the property. “This will give us the opportunity to protect life and property in the village,” said East Hampton Fire Chief Gerard Turza Jr.
Both laws will take effect in a few weeks, after they are filed with New York’s secretary of state.
The board also agreed to install a 20-to-25-foot-tall flagpole adjacent to the bike rack in the Georgica Beach parking lot, as a structure to hold wireless equipment. Cellphone service at the beach is “spotty,” said David Collins, the superintendent of public works, and the placement of the pole will allow for maximum coverage. The board will vote on a resolution to pay for the installation at its May 7 meeting.
Two public hearings were scheduled for the board’s May 15 meeting, one on a proposed law to allow the village to exceed the cap on property taxes in its annual budget, and the other on a resolution to accept a scenic and conservation easement from the owners of the property at 25 Cove Hollow Road.
In other business, the board resolved to appoint Capt. Anthony Long of the East Hampton Village Police to the permanent title of captain; to rehire Jamie Tulp as beach manager, and to accept the newly elected officers of the East Hampton Fire Department: Mr. Turza as chief engineer, Duane Forrester as first assistant engineer, Brian Stanis as second assistant engineer, and Reed Jones as secretary.
Earlier this month, the board discussed prohibiting heavy trucks, defined as over nine tons, from using North Main Street and Accabonac Road. Mayor Richard Lawler had said the proposal was intended to prevent such trucks from becoming a nuisance in residential neighborhoods, and to keep them from disrupting traffic flow, particularly at the intersection of Main Street and Newtown Lane.
At the end of Friday’s meeting, Arthur Graham revisited the topic, and recommended the village conduct a traffic study before implementing a ban. Mayor Lawler agreed to ask Drew Bennett, the village engineer, to offer other suggestions to manage traffic flow.
Lastly, the board said an abundance of dog feces has been littering the village streets lately, and pleaded with dog owners to clean up after their pets.
