Protest Gazebo Rules

Montauk residents of all ages converged upon the village green Monday afternoon to protest a bid by the Montauk Gazebo Committee to restrict its use.

The protest did not discriminate. The 250 or so people crowded onto the town-owned property included children, fishermen, landscapers, restaurant and business owners, dancers, local politicians, and more than a few verbal canines.

Richard White Jr., a longtime resident of the hamlet, said he'd never seen anything like it. "This goes to show, you don't tell the people of Montauk they can't do something they've been doing and enjoying for years," he said.

Restrictions Proposed

Early in December, three members of the Montauk Gazebo Committee, Lucy Ketcham, William Addeo, and Harry Ellis, met with East Hampton Town Councilman Len Bernard and Scott Bennett of the Town Parks and Recreation Department to suggest use guidelines for the gazebo and the green.

Mr. Bernard afterward circulated a memo to the other four members of the Town Board outlining their recommendations.

Only one-day "passive" events - concerts, readings, and the like - would be allowed on the green, and only town vehicles could park there. Tents, tie-ropes, stakes, fence posts, awnings, signs, and posters would not be allowed on the green, and skateboarding, Rollerblading, and bicycling would be prohibited in the gazebo.

No Cars

Cars driving on the green to unload merchandise sold at fairs were destroying its irrigation system, Mr. Bernard's memo said. As for two and three-day events, they were depriving the public of its use.

(During Monday's gathering, however, Mr. Bernard said the gazebo committee had since changed its mind about the one-day restrictions.)

The committee also complained to the Councilman that the setting-up of large events - using posts, stakes, and the like - damaged the ground, and the tents created a "honky-tonk" appearance.

The memo adds that committee members would like to see curbing put around the green to discourage cars, and restricted curbside parking during special events such as the St. Patrick's Day parade.

The proposed rules did not sit well with the Montauk library trustees, who organized Monday's protest.

The library holds an annual one-day book fair on the green. Suzanne Koch Gosman, president of the library trustees, told Monday's crowd that the $15,000 to $20,000 the fair brings in supports the institution's programs throughout the year.

The library contingent drew up petitions against the proposed rules, which can be found in just about every business in the small hamlet. According to representatives of the library, they have quickly filled up.

Circulate Petition

"The green belongs to us!" the petition says, adding, "We love the Christmas-tree lighting, the book fair, the Fall Festival, the Montauk Artists show, the Garden Club sale, the Downtown Association concerts, the Turkey Day Run for Fun, the dance performances, the hay rides, the raffle sales, the St. Patrick's Day parade, waiting for the Jitney on the grass, children playing, and all Montauk life on the green."

Library trustees also wrote a strongly worded letter to the Town Board, urging members to listen to the entire Montauk community before deciding on the future of the green.

Among other irate organizations was the Chamber of Commerce, whose two-day Fall Festival is held on the green, and the Montauk Village Association, which parks a car there and then raffles it off. (A letter from the association appears in this issue.)

Move The Bus Stop?

George Watson, a Montauk restaurant owner, was the first speaker at Monday's protest. Gesturing at the snow lightly swirling around the crowd, he remarked, "The Gazebo Committee doesn't allow snowflakes on the green."

"And they don't want much else here either," he added.

If the Gazebo Committee wanted Montauk to be "more like East Hampton, maybe they should move to East Hampton," Mr. Watson suggested. His audience roared in agreement.

Before leaving the gazebo Mr. Watson mentioned an issue recently raised by the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee and now being explored by a town engineer, Vincent Gaudiello Jr. - moving the bus stop from the center of town to the Kirk Park parking lot.

"They say buses in town and people on the green make us look honky-tonk. Well, maybe we like honky-tonk!" he yelled, drawing cheers and applause.

Councilman Reconsiders

Later in the day, it seemed that Councilman Bernard, for one, had had a change of heart. The large turnout, he said, made him understand that "a middle ground" had to be found.

He will invite both sides to a meeting next week, he said, to see what compromise can be arrived at.

Members of the Gazebo Committee were upset at the tenor of the protest. The demonstration was "disgusting and un called-for," said Mrs. Ketcham on Tuesday.

She never intended to keep children from playing on the green, she said, nor to offend local oragnizations.

"I'm sorry this has happened," she said.

Sprinkler System

She reiterated, however, that cars should be restricted. "The sprinkler system is what keeps the green green, and cars are ruining the sprinkler system," said Mrs. Ketcham.

"Where are all these people when it comes time to maintain the green?" she wondered. "They never carried the gallons of water necessary to water the green before we had the sprinkler system installed."

Mr. Addeo said he was disappointed that the organizers of the protest never called him to discuss the situation.

He agreed with Mrs. Ketcham that no one ever offers to help maintain the green.

"I consider the green to be the front lawn of Montauk. You don't drive on your front lawn," he said.

Town Board Hears

Town Councilman Peter Hammerle and Councilwoman Pat Mansir were also circulating through Monday's crowd. Asked her opinion of the goings-on, Ms. Mansir laughed.

"I'd like to say I'm neutral, but I'm not," she said. "The gazebo belongs to the green and the green belongs to the people." Looking down at the ground around her, she said she didn't notice any damage but agreed nothing should be tied to the gazebo structure, as the Gazebo Committee has argued.

The last speaker, Mr. Hammerle, told protesters their voice had been heard. He said the next step would normally be a public hearing held in Montauk, but added, "With this showing, I don't think it will ever come to that."

In the course of the half-hour protest, children from the Lighthouse Dance Project performed to a Joni Mitchell song:

"Don't it always seem to go/that you don't know what you've got till it's gone?"