On Tuesday night, at the beginning of the second best-attended Sag Harbor Planning Board meeting ever, John Shaka, the board’s chairman, let the full house know that the public comment period on Adam Potter’s 11 Bridge Street L.L.C. project was closed: “We will not be accepting commentary today on that project.”
On Dec. 20, after the board’s first best-attended meeting, which included a public hearing, there was a 10-day window left open for written comments. The window closed early this month.
The crowd waited out the board’s discussion of another application before Kathy Eiseman of Nelson Pope Voorhis, consultant to the village, read through her pre-submission report on Mr. Potter’s project, centering on a three-story mixed-use building in the office district. The building would have 10,778 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor and 39 apartments on the upper two floors, 19 of them deemed affordable.
Ms. Eiseman’s report summarized three things: the questions board members asked on Dec. 20, public comment during that meeting, and the written comments received after. “We received a lot of letters and emails,” she said, “and rest assured, those are all part of the record.” In fact, she had to sort through 120 pages of comments, which speaks to the continued public interest in the project.
Nothing new was presented.
Larry Perrine, a member of the board, perhaps sensing disappointment in the room, said, “I know there was robust comment, and I see a lot of citizens in the audience. I wonder where next in this ongoing process will there be direct public input?”
As a next step, Ms. Eiseman said, one of the village boards would have to take the lead on reviewing the project, or “declare lead agency,” as required by the New York State Environmental Quality Review. Once that is decided, and assuming the project receives a “positive declaration” from the state — because, among other reasons, the building is in a flood zone and would require the demolition of at least four structures in the historic district — the public could weigh in on the environmental impact statement.
The project requires both use and area variances from the zoning board of appeals, which Liz Vail, the village attorney, said is “entirely a public hearing process.” Both the board of historic preservation and architectural review, and the board of trustees, will also need to grant approval. “There will be multiple opportunities for the public to be heard on this application, even outside of SEQRA,” Ms. Eiseman said.
The village board voted the application incomplete, per SEQRA, and adopted Ms. Eiseman’s pre-submission report. The room then cleared out.
Soon after, Tiffany Scarlato, a land-use lawyer representing Michael Gluckman and his wife, Lila Beudert-Gluckman, discussed changing the use of Water Street Wines & Spirits, in Mr. Potter’s 22 Long Island Avenue building, to a 23-seat “Smashburger”-style restaurant.
It was listed on the board’s agenda as a discussion item, but details were scant; the “discussion” lasted only a few minutes. Mr. Shaka asked for more to be included on the drawings, pertaining to access, parking, hours of operation, and wastewater flow. A site plan was not presented.
“I’m assuming you want to move this forward expeditiously,” the board chairman said. “We’re happy to help you out with that. Look forward to Smash!”
On the way out, Mr. Gluckman, who has owned multiple restaurants in the area, said he wanted to create a family-friendly, locals-driven, hamburger-centered restaurant. “Something casual and inexpensive,” he said. “French fries and milkshakes,” agreed his wife.
