A Public Restroom Inches Ever Closer
After some 15 years of what East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell called “fits and starts,” a public restroom in the municipal parking lot of Amagansett’s commercial district may finally be constructed in the early spring. If, that is, separate but related issues can be resolved.
Joseph Catropa, the architect who designed the proposed restroom, told the town board at its work session on Tuesday that while the Suffolk County Health Department’s refusal to approve the project has further postponed action, “sometimes it’s good to take a step back.”
In March, Mr. Cantwell had told the hamlet’s citizens advisory committee that construction of the restroom, along with a resurfacing and re-striping of the lot, would once again have to wait. The latest obstacle resulted from a 2009 easement the board granted for the installation of a septic system on town-owned property — the parking lot — for the restaurant at 231 Main Street, then Mezzaluna AMG. The easement was granted after the Suffolk County Department of Health’s authorized installation of the septic system.
However, the survey accompanying the restaurant’s application to the Health Department did not disclose the existence of a well on the adjacent property at 247 Main Street owned by Tina Piette, an attorney whose office is located there. The restaurant’s septic system falls within the required setback from the well and therefore is in violation, precluding the Health Department from issuing a certificate of occupancy for a restroom on any part of the town-owned parking lot. The Health Department, Mr. Cantwell said in March, would not act until Ms. Piette’s property is connected to the public water system. County officials asserted that that was the town’s responsibility, he said, but the town would not pay to connect private property to public water.
During the stalemate, Mr. Catropa told the board, discussions with groups including the citizens advisory committee yielded a revised location for the restroom, at the rear of the lot instead of closer to its center, behind the Amagansett Library. The parking configuration was also revisited, resulting in improved traffic flow and creation of additional spaces, he said. Under the new plan, the lot would include 152 spaces with 10 more designated for the handicapped.
In light of complaints about scant enforcement of time limits, 51 spaces in the re-striped lot would be designated for 24-hour parking and 96 would be limited to two hours. The remainder, Mr. Cantwell said on Tuesday, would be situated nearest the stores on Main Street and limited to 30-minute parking.
“Recently, we’ve reapplied to the board of health for approval,” Mr. Catropa said, and “we anticipate getting a permit.” The contractor that submitted the winning bid is being contacted, he said, with the intention to complete the entire project before the summer. “We’re anticipating recapturing the momentum on the project and getting started in the early spring.”
Nevertheless, Mr. Cantwell said, the application before the Health Department “is probably not going to overcome” the issue of the septic system that both the town and county had approved, “although I’m hopeful they’ll give us a permit to at least construct” the restroom. “Our understanding is that . . . this other issue regarding the septic being to close to the private well is going to get resolved in the meantime.” Neither Ms. Piette nor a representative for Randy Lerner, who owns the 231 Main Street property, had responded to a request for comment as of yesterday.
The board would assume “a little risk” in constructing the restroom before knowing that the county would issue a certificate of occupancy, “but let’s see how that plays out with the Health Department,” he said. “The problem here, in part, is that the different steps we’re trying to accomplish are all dependent on one another.” He asked Mr. Catropa to continue seeking county approval and determine if the contractor would complete the project at the price quoted for its initially proposed location.
Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc said that, while he was happy that there was finally agreement as to the restroom’s location, he was disappointed that it would be situated at the rear of the lot with no clear path from its entrance except by walking around the entire perimeter. It isn’t the best location, he said, “but I know it’s been over 15 years’ discussion. If there is consensus, hallelujah.”