Housing Petitions Do Battle
Four weeks after the Amagansett School Board invited residents of the district to learn more about the likely impacts of the East Hampton Housing Authority’s proposed 40-unit affordable housing complex in the hamlet, two petitions are circulating on the Internet, one in favor of the proposal and the other opposing it.
The dueling petitions can both be found on the change.org website by searching for “Amagansett.”
The petition in support of the plan, organized by Katy Casey, executive director of the Housing Authority, describes “a transit oriented, walkable community of clustered cottages and one 2,000-square-foot commercial building, in a pocket neighborhood built to passive house standards.” According to the petition, “elements of the Housing Authority proposal include onsite wastewater treatment and gray water reclamation, rain gardens, solar PV, bike kiosk and trail, community access, mixed-income/mixed-use design to complement the aesthetic of the immediate vicinity, common greens, and a playground.”
“A small, vocal, well connected minority in Amagansett is waging a campaign against this proposal for 531 Montauk Highway,” it continues. “Please express your support for the project by signing this petition. Let the decision makers in East Hampton know the small group of vocal opponents do not accurately represent community opinion.”
Five days ago, the petition had 10 supporters; as of yesterday there were 110, many of whom added comments to their signatures along the lines of Elizabeth Hotchkiss’s. “This community desperately needs affordable housing,” she wrote. Ms. Hotchkiss lives in Amagansett; most of the other comments came from residents of East Hampton.
Anna Bernasek, a financial and economic commentator and author who splits her time between New York City and Amagansett, started the opponents’ petition under the heading “Amagansett Residents Against 531 Montauk Highway Housing Project.” It reads as follows:
“We are opposed to the Town of East Hampton’s plan to build a 40-unit apartment complex at 531 Montauk Highway, Amagansett. We believe that this project will have a negative impact on our water quality, traffic, emergency services, property taxes, the Amagansett School, our public utilities, and natural resources.”
As of yesterday, that appeal had 26 supporters, four of whom submitted comments. “The main concern with a large commercial building in Amagansett is the effect on the currently balanced water and farming environment,” wrote Lisa Iddings of New York City and Amagansett. “Placing such a large building on a small plot of land can have detrimental effects on surrounding water sources and come summer, with the already heightened crowd, cause even more delays and traffic congestion, leading to higher pollution of gas emissions in a large farming community with delicate water and ground soil maintenance.”
At the school board’s March 19 meeting, a consultant hired by the board told a crowd of about 100 that the question was not whether the town does or does not need rental or mixed-income housing, but about “the impact that this proposal will have on the district’s taxpayers” and “the ability of the Amagansett School to continue to provide a high-quality education to all of its residents.” The Housing Authority has projected an increase of 37 new students in the district when the complex is ready for occupancy in 2018; the consultant said that, at the high end, the number could be nearly double that.