Seek Comment on Moratorium
East Hampton Town officials will listen to comments from the public on a proposed moratorium on the development of commercial sites in Wainscott at a hearing at Town Hall on Oct. 6, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
During the moratorium, no approvals for subdivisions or site plans for certain properties would be issued for one year in order to allow the town to complete a planning study of the hamlet and to implement any new land-use regulations that might arise from the study.
In-depth studies of the commercial centers of each of the town’s hamlets were called for in the town’s most recent comprehensive plan, adopted in 2005, but were not undertaken until earlier this year. Consultants held meetings last week focusing on Montauk, the final hamlet to come under scrutiny in the process. Draft recommendations and options for policies or regulations will be prepared and submitted for review by town staff, elected officials, and the public, and hearings will be held on proposals before their adoption by the town.
Wainscott is unique among the hamlets, according to the town board resolution that set the hearing, because of its high traffic volume and its commercial development stretched along Montauk Highway. “Anticipated recommendations include plans for a walkable hamlet center,” according to the resolution, which said that a planning workshop focusing on the hamlet “revealed a great potential for transforming the Wainscott commercial area to remedy this situation while creating a traditional-style hamlet center.” But, it continued, “if development continues along this portion of the Montauk Highway while the study is pending, and the town is unable to implement recommended changes prior to further approvals being issued, opportunities to improve safety and mitigate traffic and other impacts may be lost. “
The moratorium would affect properties that are zoned for central business or commercial-industrial uses and properties in residential zones being used for nonresidential purposes in an area generally along the Montauk Highway corridor in Wainscott. The area included would be south of the Long Island Rail Road line and bordered by Town Line Road in the west and by Hedges Lane and the East Hampton Village boundary to the east. It would apply to applications for new development as well as expansions of more than 25 percent of an existing building, if the increase would result a larger legal occupancy of the site.
Subdivision or site-plan proposals for which the planning board has already held a public hearing and issued an approval would be allowed to proceed. Landowners affected by the moratorium would be allowed to apply to the town board for an exemption, and the board would hold a hearing on the request. Exemptions could be issued only if the board found that a proposal would have no adverse effect on the town’s goals or objectives outlined in the hamlet study plan, that the proposal was in accord with the character of Wainscott and the town as a whole, as well as the comprehensive plan, and that failure to grant an exemption would cause hardship to the property owner “substantially greater” than any harm to the public.