Parking Issues at T.J. Maxx
A last-minute change in the site plan for the proposed 17,000-square-foot expansion of T.J. Maxx, a chain store in Bridgehampton Commons, was unveiled at a Southampton Town Planning Board public hearing last Thursday. The board closed the hearing, but will hold the record open for 30 days for written comments.
The site plan, from Kimco Realty, the owner of the shopping center, calls for extending the rear of T.J. Maxx, which is the easternmost building, to make room for Marshalls, another discount retail store owned by TJX Companies.
Although an additional 85 parking spaces would be required under the town code for such an expansion, the board had previously granted Kimco a parking waiver, allowing it to set aside land for future parking rather than develop spaces at once.
The company had planned to enter into a “cross-access” easement with Marders Nursery, its neighbor, which would allow part of the Marders property to be used for parking if the need arose. But on Thursday, Timothy McCulley, Kimco’s lawyer, said the site plan had been reworked by an engineer so that the 97 parking spaces would fit on Bridgehampton Commons.
Pamela Harwood, the chairwoman of the Bridgehampton Citizens Advisory Committee and the only member of the public to voice opposition to the site plan, said the revised parking sounded good in theory, but she wanted more time to study the changes.
She objected to the company’s plan to prevent right-hand turns at the exit from the parking lot onto Snake Hollow Road. Since the nearby intersection of Snake Hollow and Montauk Highway does not have a traffic signal, the board had encouraged Kimco to put up signs deterring left turns.
Describing the inability to make a right turn as “a great inconvenience to residents and bad for businesses,” Ms. Harwood said people liked to combine trips to the shopping center with stops at BNB Bank, English Country Antiques, and the gas station at the intersection, all of which are to the right of Bridgehampton Commons on Snake Hollow Road.
Dennis Finnerty, the board chairman, agreed that preventing right turns at the exit would be problematic and said he was leaning toward keeping the hearing open so the public had time to examine the “significant changes” made on the site plan, but after hearing contrary opinions from board members, he agreed to close the hearing while leaving the comment period open until Jan. 13.