A proposal to build a 50-unit affordable housing complex off Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton received a mixed response at an East Hampton Town Planning Board public hearing on Sept. 22, as neighbors of the site expressed concern about traffic congestion and environmental impacts, and others lauded the effort to make more lower-cost apartments available.
The complex would be built on a more than 14-acre vacant parcel at 286 and 290 Three Mile Harbor Road, adjacent to Harbor View Avenue to the north and the Bistrian Gravel Corporation to the south. It would comprise five two-story buildings with 10 units each plus two rooms for mechanicals, and a separate wastewater treatment facility. The entrance would be from Three Mile Harbor Road, and the buildings would be approximately 450 feet away from the thoroughfare. The property is in a special groundwater protection area.
The East Hampton Housing Authority is seeking to develop the project in partnership with Georgica Green Ventures, a private developer, as it did on the Gansett Meadow affordable housing complex in Amagansett.
Edgar Ortiz and Diana Darrell, Harbor View Avenue residents, are leery of the project, they said, because the neighborhood, which is just to the west of the East Hampton Recycling Center, is already overdeveloped. It is also teeming with cars traveling between Three Mile Harbor and Springs-Fireplace Roads, and the complex would bring even more traffic to the street. Eric Bregman, a lawyer for Ms. Darrell, said traffic flow in and out of the development would also pose a safety hazard.
Since homeowners there do not have access to public water, Ms. Darrell and Pablo Betancur wondered how a cluster of new housing would affect well water. "We already have issues with our wells," she said. Mr. Betancur said he was not opposed to the project, but hoped the town would also prioritize the needs of Harbor View Avenue residents, and provide a connection to public water, and a gas main.
"Three Mile Harbor Road is already overburdened, it's not going to take any more traffic," said Jeffrey Plitt. Fifty units of housing could mean that as many as 150 more cars would use the road daily, he said. The property is also precariously close to the Soak Hides Dreen, a water course that drains into Three Mile Harbor, he noted, which means, that despite the wastewater treatment facility and proposed rain gardens, runoff from the development would likely pollute the harbor. "If you take a minute, and take a paddleboard around Three Mile Harbor at low tide, most everything at that end of the harbor is dead," he said.
Clayton Munsey, who owns a property on Three Mile Harbor Road adjacent to the site, told the board that Christopher Simonetti, the owner of the lots where it would be built, had been seeking to sell them to the town for nearly a decade. Mr. Munsey had helped him get the property on a list for potential acquisition by the town with the use of community preservation fund money, he said, but the town never moved forward with a purchase. "The idea was and is to give that property to the community," said Mr. Munsey, who would like to see the open space remain and be used as a public park.
An opponent of the development recently put up a sign in front of the parcels that espoused that idea. "Tell the board no! Our hamlet has no park," it said. On Monday, the sign was removed.
Catherine Casey, the Housing Authority's executive director, said at the public hearing that she understood that traffic is a major concern, and that she would be eager to work with Suffolk County, which oversees Three Mile Harbor Road, to develop safe traffic flow measures. The Housing Authority is prioritizing water quality in the area by installing the wastewater treatment plant, she said, which reduces nitrogen levels more effectively than most advanced septic systems.
Several people, including two residents of Gansett Meadow, supported the project. "It's a great opportunity for more families to live in the area, working families, honest families, that are part of the community," said Fabian Rodas.
Scott Bluedorn, an artist who, earlier this year, was the subject of a Southampton Press newspaper story detailing his struggle to find a rental, pleaded with the neighbors to allow the complex to move forward. "If you're a Nimby [not in my backyard], you need to consider the entire community at large," he said. "We need as much affordable housing units as could possibly be created. We're in a crisis, people are hanging on by their fingernails, and I include myself in those numbers. No site is going to be perfect, but we need to explore all options."
