Journey Hotel Wants Permission for a Bar
Five months after the Journey East Hampton hotel opened on Pantigo Road, its owner is seeking permission from the East Hampton Town Planning Board to install a bar on the premises, contending that it will be used strictly by guests and not the general public. The application for a site plan modification, presented at the board’s Nov. 7 meeting, was met with skepticism by members including Job Potter, the board’s chairman, who said that the owner, Bridgeton Holdings, a Manhattan real estate development company, seemed to be surreptitiously trying to create a bar scene at the hotel.
Marguerite Wolffsohn, the town’s planning director, presented the details of the application as well as the parameters of the “on-premises” liquor license the owner received from the State Liquor Authority. Ms. Wolffsohn said that Bridgeton Holdings, which intends to install a pool with a deck at the hotel, is seeking permission to use a pool house-type structure as a cafe and bar area; to provide 24 tables and a total of 63 seats (including seating around the pool), and to serve alcohol outdoors. There would also be music and dancing in this recreational area.
“I’m having serious feelings of Hero Beach part two,” said Mr. Potter, referring to the Hero Beach Club, a Montauk resort owned by Jonathan Krasner and other investors, who are seeking to add a restaurant and bar to the premises despite objections from neighbors who fear the resurrection of a boisterous party scene in the hamlet.
Representing Bridgeton Holdings at the meeting was Laurie Wiltshire, the president of Land Planning Services, a company that helps property owners navigate permit applications. She rejected the comparison between Journey East Hampton and Hero Beach Club, and said that the mission of Bridgeton Holdings was to provide a peaceful place to stay for families and couples. “My clients are not looking for a party that will chase away the clients they’re trying to attract,” she said.
Mr. Potter asked Ms. Wiltshire if Journey East Hampton and Hero Beach Club were owned by the same people. She replied, “Absolutely not.”
However, the connections between Bridgeton Holdings — which recently purchased the Atlantic Terrace hotel in Montauk — and Hero Beach Club are numerous. Bridgeton Holdings manages the day-to-day operations at Hero Beach Club and, according to a representative from the development company, also owns equity in the Montauk hotel. The liquor license that Hero Beach Club applied for last year lists Atit Jariwala, the Bridgeton Holdings C.E.O., as one of the hotel’s principals.
Mr. Potter questioned why Bridgeton Holdings, in its previous site plan discussions with the department, had not divulged an intent to install a bar, or revealed that it had applied for a liquor license back in April. Ms. Wiltshire replied that she was unaware of such plans. “The only reason they applied for a liquor license is because they intend to have mass-gathering permits for weddings one to four times a season,” she said.
Ms. Wiltshire said that a five-foot-long bar, which has already been installed at Journey East Hampton, was currently being used as a counter for serving breakfast and for providing a drink to guests upon arrival.
If a full-service bar were approved, Mr. Potter wondered, “What would prevent the public from coming in and buying a drink and having it on the property?” Ms. Wiltshire said the hotel would not allow it, because it would detract from its mission, and she argued that the relatively small size of the hotel’s lot and the lack of a view make it an uninviting destination for the general public.
Ed Krug, a board member, wasn’t convinced by that reasoning. “Who would have thought the Memory Motel, frankly, would have been a place to hang out,” he said, referring to the popularity of the historic dive bar in Montauk.
Although the Journey East Hampton owner was seeking a site plan modification to include the bar, the board said that, instead, a special permit would be necessary. Town code allows a bar as an accessory to a resort on the following conditions: if the use is compatible with the neighborhood, if there is adequate parking, if there are appropriate setbacks from adjoining residences, and if the hotel has a minimum of 25 guest rooms.
Ian Calder-Piedmonte, a board member, pointed out that Journey East Hampton contains exactly 25 units, three of which were added by the new owners. “Somebody seems to have known,” he said, implying that the owners were aware of the special permit provisions and had long planned to install a bar.
Eric Bregman, a lawyer for the applicant, said that in order to alleviate the board’s concern about the hotel becoming a gathering spot, the owner would be willing to sign a covenant that stated that the property was not permitted to be a “general party venue” other than on those days when special-event permits had been issued. The covenant, he said, would apply to the current owner and any future owner. He suggested that he and John Jilnicki, the board’s attorney, convene to work out the language of the covenant and then return to the board at a later date.