Blast Cinderella Law

Restaurateurs, nightclub owners, and resort managers from Montauk and East Hampton were unified last Thursday night in their opposition to a proposal that musical entertainment and dancing should cease at midnight.

They said the law would send weddings, holiday parties, and charity benefits, a lucrative part of their business, out of town.

"Many things have taken place over the years that cannot be just ignored," Paul Monte, the general man ager of Gurney's Inn in Montauk, told the East Hampton Town Board.

Economic Impact

Mr. Monte described Gurney's as the largest year-round employer on the East End, with a $10 million impact on the local economy. He added, to considerable applause from a capacity audience, that the proposed curfew "could impact on hundreds if not thousands of people in this town."

A dozen people who spoke at the public hearing own or manage restaurants, catering halls, resorts, nightclubs, or some combination thereof.

Two residents spoke as well, as did representatives of the East Hampton and Montauk Chambers of Commerce and the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau. Every one spoke against the law.

Some said the town should address the many noise complaints it has received by training more police officers to enforce the noise ordinance.

Because noise complaints had reached "critical mass," said Robert Savage, the town attorney, the board tried to address them by a Cinderella curfew.

That solution, however, could "please just a few and hurt many," responded Andrea Gurvitz, a vice president of the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Ms. Gurvitz said that tourism was "the town's primary economic developer," and it would not be wise for the town to tell its tourists to "go to bed" at a certain time.

Liberalization?

As Town Board members repeatedly tried to point out, the Town Code makes no mention of music or dancing as allowable activities in a restaurant.

Board members told the audience that those restaurants offeing both - meaning nearly all of them, at one time or another - are doing so illegally, and have been for years.

As Councilman Thomas Knobel put it, the proposed amendment would "liberalize" the law, allowing music and dancing until midnight.

A few speakers responded that the Town Code should differentiate more clearly among restaurants, nightclubs, and catering halls.

Tried Twice Before

Two earlier versions of the proposal, which also went to hearings, were intended specifically to keep restaurants from evolving into nightclubs. Some have done so, over the years.

The second version would have set an 11 p.m. curfew on music and dancing, but the managers of Gurney's, East Hampton Point, and similar establishments complained that would force their special events, such as weddings, to end too early.

Thus, the third version, moving the curfew to midnight, was drafted. Since then, however, even more restaurateurs have joined the opposition.

Change-Of-Use Approval

The audience booed and hissed when Supervisor Cathy Lester said that if the proposed law was enacted, any business whose certificate of occupancy identified it as a restaurant would need change-of-use approval from the Planning Board to continue catering special events.

Restaurants that offer dancing, nightclubs that serve food, and other combination establishments that have never met the letter of the law nonetheless represent "historic and customary uses," argued George Hammer, the owner of Shepherd's Neck Inn in Montauk.

It would be "ludicrous to require a change of use when there is no change of use," said Mr. Monte.

Warns Of Lawsuit

John Wagner, the attorney for East Hampton Point, said he thought the Supervisor was on shaky legal ground. If adopted, the law would "probably run into some substantial litigation over what is a change of use," he predicted.

"Think about New Year's. When the ball drops, the party's over," said Donald Torr, the owner of the Crow's Nest restaurant and motel in Montauk. The audience laughed, and laughed even more after his exchange with Councilman Len Bernard:

Mr. Torr suggested that parties on Election Night, when the last results sometimes don't come in until after 10 p.m., would also be affected.

"I haven't always looked for music on those nights," said Mr. Bernard, who lost two bids for a Town Board seat before winning his third.

In other business last Thursday, the Town Board took the following actions:

Appointed two new members to the Springs Citizens Advisory Committee, Bruce Baldwin of Fireplace Road and Mike Bottini of Chapel Lane. Allene Talmage will take over as chairwoman.

Appointed three new members to the Fire Advisory Committee, Bruce Stonemetz of Amagansett, Francis Mott of East Hampton, and Richard McGowin, the town civil defense coordinator, an informal committee member for years.

Finalized the purchase of 25 acres on the Soak Hides dreen, which feeds into Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton, by authorizing Ms. Lester to sign the $667,500 contract with Watch Tower, the property owner.

Day Care Subsidies

The board also:

Endorsed "Child Care Works," a plan by the Child Care Council of Suffolk County that in part would expand day care subsidies for welfare parents and poor families, urging county and state legislators to help increase funding. (A related story appears on page X.)

Solicited bids on the annual sidewalk and drainage contracts, and on the contract to install comfort stations at the proposed Little League fields next to Town Hall, all of which must be submitted by March 13.

Added $45,000 to the capital budget line for the roller rinks and basketball courts at the Youth Park in Amagansett, by postponing an $18,000 expansion of the police impound and reducing the line for expanding the Lions Field park in Montauk by $27,500.