Last Tuesday, September 10, is an example of how wrong-headed and dismissive the current Supervisor’s style of governance is. Public hearings are intended for the public to be heard.
On this hearing date, the public was invited to give comment to the Town Board on the proposed Canoe Place Maritime Planned Development District (PDD) in Hampton Bays. Instead of allowing the people to be heard FIRST, as presiding officer, Anna Throne-Holst permitted the developer’s lawyer, engineers, architects, and community coordinator to speak for an unlimited amount of time, while cutting off community leaders like Hampton Bays Beautification Association Past President Maud Kramer after an allotted three minutes.
To have the developer’s lawyers, architects, and engineers speak first for such a long stretch of time creates a chilling effect on the public hearing process, in my opinion. Many people took the day off from work to attend. As the hour grew long, some had to leave to pick up their children from school, which had just started the day before.
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This was the second public hearing and it would have been more responsive to the public to allow the people to speak first, then the developer’s representatives could take the time to respond to the comments made, if desired. In fact, it was not really necessary for the developer’s representatives to speak at all since the hearing is on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and they will have to respond to all the substantive comments in writing in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS).
It is also a hearing on the Local Law to rezone the properties to a PDD, but there is no draft local law yet available for the public to comment about. Why?
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The Canoe Place PDD/DEIS Hearing has been adjourned until Tuesday, October 22 at 6 pm. Your voice is important in this process. Speak up and raise your concerns or share your support of the project, as this proposal has the potential to change your community in a dramatic way. Alternatives to the proposed project, including potential redesign of project components, are required to be considered in the DEIS/FEIS under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). Now, is the time to vet out the concerns, consider changes to project design, and what mitigation measures may be necessary to address project impacts.
- If you are concerned about a wastewater treatment facility on the sloped, wooded property east of North Shore Road that serves as a gateway to a residential neighborhood, your comments for the record should be welcomed, not discouraged or chided.
- If you think that the density of the 40 townhomes on the east side of the canal is problematic, state your specific concerns.
- If you think that it is important to retain the waterfront restaurant business use on the east side of the canal, speak up.
- If historic preservation/rehabilitation of the Canoe Place Inn is an important community benefit that you would like to see, what are the “zoning trade-offs” that you would encourage the Town Board to allow on the other properties owned by the developer to achieve that objective?
- Would you support alternative project designs that distribute some of the townhomes amongst the various properties, such as some on the Canoe Place Inn site (similar to how there is multi-unit housing behind the Villa Paul Restaurant) and maybe some on the eastern property on the east side of North Shore Road as well?
- What about the Town’s Comprehensive Plan vision for restaurants, shops, and a public promenade on the east side of the canal? Do you think having at least one waterfront restaurant use on the east side on the canal should be required in the PDD as part of the rezoning approval?
- Would you support having the redevelopment project reversed in its entirety such that the proposed 40 townhomes are instead built on the CPI site and a brand new waterfront restaurant/catering hall is built on the east of the canal? Under that scenario, since there would be a loss of a historically-significant building, would you support the new catering facility on the east side of the canal to commemorate the Canoe Place Inn in architecture and in photographic displays in a foyer area as well as other artifacts about the rich maritime history of the Shinnecock Canal area? Should the new catering facility, under this alternative, still incorporate the 20 rooms upstairs for lodging purposes as part of project design, or primarily focus on the waterfront dining use?
The Supervisor and the Town Board are required by state law to consider alternatives to the developer’s proposal and to take into account community input and propose mitigation strategies, as deemed appropriate.
Don’t let the “legalese” involved and the developer’s inaccurate posterboards purporting to depict as-of-right zoning (“scare tactics”) intimidate you. Demand responsiveness from Town Officials to your concerns as homeowners and interested community members.
This is an important opportunity for economic development and revitalization at the Shinnecock Canal area. Let your voice be heard at the continuation hearing on Tuesday, October 22 at 6 pm or send your written comments into the record by letter to the Southampton Town Clerk, 116 Hampton Road, Southampton NY 11968.
