Government Briefs 03.24.16
East Hampton Town
Sanitation Department Flooded
Those looking to renew a dump permit have been advised to visit Town Hall rather than the town’s Sanitation Department. Pipes burst in the Sanitation Department’s office on Valentine’s Day, according to Patricia Sanfilippo. She and the other clerk are working in trailers behind the Highway Department while the office is being outfitted with new floors, walls, and furniture. It was particularly bad timing for the Sanitation Department, which this month processes new dump permit applications, Ms. Sanfilippo said. The department hopes to be back in its office in a couple of weeks.
Southampton Town
Blinking Light Test a Go
Next month, a three-day traffic experiment will be conducted on Country Road 39 in Southampton. The traffic light at the intersection of County Road 39 and Tuckahoe Road will be converted into a blinking yellow light from April 19 through 21 during the morning commutes from 6 to 9. The test will allow the county’s traffic engineers to study if a blinking light would ease a bottleneck that forms at the light near the Stony Brook Southampton campus.
Following a public hearing on Tuesday night, in which no one spoke for or against, the Southampton Town Board agreed to temporary restrictions on vehicular traffic, allowing for the use of a blinking light. During the test period, left-hand turns onto County Road 39 from Tuckahoe Road, which runs north and south, intersecting the highway, as well as left turns by westbound traffic from 39 onto Tuckahoe Road, will be prohibited. Drivers also won’t be able to drive straight across County Road 39 to continue on Tuckahoe.
New Date for Gateway
While the hearing on the change of zoning for a mixed-use planned development district known as the Bridgehampton Gateway project had been held over until April 26, the Southampton Town Board voted Tuesday night to postpone it another week. Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said the previous date fell in the middle of public schools’ spring break, and he had a family obligation. Councilwoman Julie Lofstad would also be out of town, he said.
The board decided in February to keep the hearing on whether to consider a zoning change open as the proposal — presented with 90,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, plus affordable housing and market-rate condominiums — had failed to win community approval. The developer, Carol Konner, is working on making some changes.
Bridgehampton Street Renamed
A portion of Hildreth Avenue in Bridgehampton will now be called Audubon Road following a request by the street’s residents. Hildreth Avenue is an oddly shaped street that starts at Ocean Road and then turns at a 90-degree angle toward Sagaponack Road. The latter portion was renamed Audubon Road by town board resolution on Tuesday night after a quiet public hearing. The numbering on the street has posed problems, and residents often have trouble receiving deliveries, according to Carl Benincasa, an assistant town attorney.
Push for Accessory Apartments
Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said last week that he is working on a plan for accessory affordable apartments that would help address the town’s housing crisis in which “the town is generating a huge labor demand that can’t live here.” He is working with Michael DeSario, the president of St. Michael’s Windmill Housing Associates in Amagansett, in the hopes of coming up with a proposal for a program that would match those working in Southampton Town with homeowners in need of extra income. The program would help pay for converting space in “underutilized houses” into accessory apartments, Mr. Schneiderman said.
Even though the proposal is in its infancy, the supervisor said his goal is to register 25 units by the end of the year. “I think the community wouldn’t even know that they’re there,” he said. “I feel like we have an obligation as a town board to try to find a better way to house a larger percentage of our work force.”