Public Privies? Not Yet
Amagansett’s decades-old call for a public restroom in its town-owned parking lot behind Main Street, the existence of which would relieve not only tourists but the staff of the Amagansett Library, the business district’s only public facility, remains in limbo, but there may be other hope ahead.
At its meeting on Monday, East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell told the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee that the parking lot proposal still awaits a permit from the Suffolk County Department of Health Services. The stumbling block is the septic system at Sotto Sopra, a restaurant at 231 Main Street owned by Randy Lerner.
The town board granted an easement for the installation of the system, which is on town-owned property, in 2009. However, Mr. Cantwell explained, the survey accompanying the restaurant’s application to the county failed to disclose the existence of a well on the adjacent property, at 247 Main Street. Its owner is Tina Piette, an attorney who practices at that address. It turns out that the restaurant’s septic system is too close to the well, a violation that precludes the Health Department from issuing a certificate of occupancy for a restroom on any part of the town-owned parking lot, which in bureaucratese is considered as a single parcel. “The Health Department has a responsibility to enforce their regulations,” Mr. Cantwell said.
The county asserts that the town is responsible for providing public water to Ms. Piette’s building, but the town has refused to pay to connect private property to public water. Mr. Cantwell displayed a blueprint of the lot showing the proposed restroom, and said the town would continue to press the county for a permit, “but that will be dependent upon correcting a violation for the property owner that built a septic system in the parking lot.”
Meanwhile, the restaurant owner, Mr. Lerner, has submitted a preliminary application to the town’s planning board for a structure that would house two unisex restrooms, as well as a retail space and storage area, across the street at Amagansett Square. The application is expected to be heard on Wednesday.
The site plan presented for reviewcalls for a 368-square-foot structure with a 96-square-foot covered porch and two 80-square-foot stalls, lined with what is described as white subway tile, each housing a toilet and a sink, with an A.T.M. machine between them. A 209-square-foot retail space would be on the other side of the building, which would have an attic and a basement limited to mechanical use, according to the plan.
The site is one of nine lots in the complex, also owned by Mr. Lerner, a billionaire who is a major player in Amagansett real estate. Britton Bistrian of Land Use Solutions, who noted this week that “the restroom/retail building is being constructed and paid for 100 percent by Amagansett Square,” will shepherd the proposal through the planning process.
The restroom would be on the same lot as the Salon and Day Spa, near the southwest corner of the parking lot, which wraps around the property. A second structure on the lot is allowed under business zoning.
JoAnne Pahwul, assistant town planning director, began working on a memorandum on the plan for the planning board on Monday, and would not comment.
While apparently straightforward, the plan could face some obstacles, chiefly with regard to parking. In 2005, according to documents on file at the Planning Department, when Mr. Lerner sought approval for the Meeting House restaurant at the Square, the town calculated that 118 parking spaces were required. The lot has only 110 spaces, according to the 2005 survey, but the planning board waived the additional spaces.
The new retail building would require another three spaces, so a new waiver may be needed. The question of additional parking may also arise in connection with the spa’s massage therapy business, which apparently was added after the spa first went before the planning board.
Also at Monday night’s A.C.A.C. meeting, a subcommittee was appointed to make recommendations to the town board on alleviating the parking crunch in the commercial district. Ms. Piette, Michael Cinque, and Herb Field agreed to serve on the subcommittee. Mr. Cantwell asked that any additional volunteers contact Vicki Littman, the committee’s chairwoman, so that a meeting can be scheduled ahead of the next committee meeting, on Oct. 19.
The subcommittee should ponder “how can we maximize the current system, and what should regulations be, if any,” Mr. Cantwell said.
Current parking regulations on Main Street, in the municipal lot, and at the Long Island Rail Road station should be considered, he said, “so if we want to make changes, we can make them before next summer.”