The last time East Hampton Village updated its comprehensive plan, in 2002, the region had been freshly impacted by 9/11, Amazon was in its infancy, and the iPhone hadn't yet been invented. While a lot has changed, as they say, much has stayed the same, including many of the issues facing the village. Issues identified in the 2002 plan — traffic, teardowns, and loss of businesses that served the local population — persist in 2024.
Another similarity is that the village recently experienced a Manhattan-influenced population boom, this time due to the pandemic. On Dec. 6, at the East Hampton Emergency Services Building, in a rare public workshop, the village will begin the process of engaging with the community about an updated vision for the future and how to get there.
Residents can also offer input and educate themselves about the process at bit.ly/4htUqSF.
"The comprehensive plan will look at everything from land use and housing to transportation, economic growth, environmental sustainability, and overall quality of life," Billy Hajek, the village planner, wrote in a press release. "It provides a clear vision for the village's future and offers a framework for decision-making."
"It doesn't get specific," he said, in a phone call. "It may recommend further analysis and study of issues that are uncovered. It's not a document that's going to have specific recommendations."
The 2002 plan, a 279-page document, was adopted by Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. "The principal theme of the vision is that the Village of East Hampton is and shall remain a residential community with extraordinary natural beauty, historic integrity, and special charm," read one sentence from its executive summary. The plan was organized into seven sections: preserving neighborhoods, supporting commercial needs, protecting natural resources, preserving history, providing transportation needs, providing residents with facilities and services, and working with the town.
"They did recommend changes to the gross floor area law that have been changed multiple times since," said Mr. Hajek. "Another recommendation was to continue adhering to wetland and dune requirements. I think the zoning board of appeals has done a good job at upholding the environmental setbacks."
One suggestion that went nowhere: a village-supported limited access bypass through the town to facilitate east-west traffic movement. Another: Do something about those pesky garbage trucks in residential areas. Leaf blowers and industrial scale landscaping were not mentioned back then.
Some sentences in the old plan seem quaint now, for example: "Each year, additional new homes are built on vacant lots — averaging 11 new units per year from 1990 through 2000. Some neighborhoods have experienced a pattern of residential teardowns with replacement by much larger and more elaborate homes. There are examples where a renovation to an older home includes expansion that exceeds the original size of the house." While once these were "examples," now they're closer to the norm.
Main Street was already rapidly changing. "Many traditional village businesses have been unable to survive and gone out of business or moved elsewhere. New types of stores have moved in, displacing the traditional village businesses and replacing them with specialty retail shops. This trend now causes many residents to travel to adjacent hamlets and towns to find the goods and services needed to meet their day-to-day needs." And that was before Prada and Louis Vuitton faced each other on the two corners of Main Street and Newtown Lane.
Mr. Hajek said that other than the website, which will be available throughout the process, there will be two or three in-person opportunities for residents to comment and add to the plan. "They may not all be workshops, but hopefully people participate."
One resident ready to offer lots of input was Mayor Jerry Larsen.
"Housing wasn't an issue last time," he said in a phone call, "but this time it's one of the biggest issues. What if we rezoned the lumber yards and made them a housing area? The old plan said we didn't want to expand the commercial district, but we're sort of expanding up Newtown. At this point, shopping on Main Street isn't affordable. Mom and pop can't afford the rent there either. If we move a commercial district up towards the train station, that could be a more affordable place for year-round residents to shop."
One thing he continues to hear from residents? "We need to be more like Sag Harbor."
"We think it's going to be a year or a little longer until it's adopted and finalized," said Mr. Hajek. "It's not like we're revamping the whole thing. It's an update of the existing plan."