For the last 20 years, people have slipped into Accabonac Harbor behind a small stand of cedar trees next to the Springs General Store, a Town of East Hampton-historical site. Sage Island, Wood Tick Island, the Merrill Lake Sanctuary, and Louse Point were all just a paddle away.
No longer.
John Bennett, owner of the general store, appeared before the town planning board last week, seeking to discontinue renting and launching kayaks and to sell organic wines out of a converted storage shed instead, which would require a change of use. Marco Wu, a town planner who assessed the change, sought to convince Mr. Bennett to continue with the kayak business. “If the existing kayak use is removed,” he said, “that’s one less way for local residents to get to the water.”
At a preliminary site plan review, the town planner presents an applicant’s proposed changes to a site and offers the best planning options from the town’s point of view. The planning board members then have a chance to share their assessments.
Mr. Wu cited town code, encouraging Mr. Bennett to consider applying for a third use at the property. The general store, built in 1844, is in a neighborhood-business zoning district on a parcel of roughly 57,000 square feet. “The town code states that there must be a minimum of 10,000 square feet per use in a neighborhood business district,” the planner said, so the site “does contain sufficient square footage for three commercial uses.” The first use would be the store itself, which wouldn’t change, other than to have a new table indoors.
Mr. Bennett, who plans to transfer ownership of the store to his sons, was having none of it. “We are not willing to maintain the kayak use,” he told the board. “It has a multiplier effect, which makes the project much more complicated.” There is “plenty of public access at the end of Shipyard Lane” to launch kayaks, he said, and pointed out that the Springs General Store is private property. “This is not public access,” Mr. Bennett told the planning board.
If they kept the kayak use and added the retail wine use, the third “use” would trigger a septic redesign and require a natural resources special permit, he said, stressing that he wanted to “do the minimal amount of change” with “no intent to intensify the use here.”
Michael Hansen, the newest member of the planning board, commented that switching from kayak rentals to wine sales was a big change. Kayak rentals typically happen only three to four months a year, while selling wine is a year-round business. As such, Mr. Hansen said, there could be parking implications.
Mr. Wu encouraged changes to the parking area, perhaps not understanding that even Joni Mitchell could love the parking lot at the Springs General Store. “The parking is undelineated,” he argued. “It is haphazard and conflicts with the traffic” on the adjacent roads. He suggested making a clear ingress and egress and organizing and marking the spots.
Neither the applicant nor the board was enthusiastic about his suggestions.
“You can make us change the parking,” said Mr. Bennett, “it’s in your jurisdiction.” He worried, however, that “it would change and suburbanize this parcel” and he thought that was a mistake.
The board spoke of curbs and landscaping. Every member weighed in and spoke passionately about how to maintain the rural quality of the lot while reducing chaos. Samuel Kramer, the board chairman, acknowledged the “pickup-sticks nature of the parking,” but said that the “current configuration or lack of configuration has its charms.”
Nonetheless, he said, “there is no A.D.A. spot.” He said that handicapped parking is very important, and the board is charged with taking the A.D.A. law very seriously. “The A.D.A. spot really does need to be incorporated, however things shake out,” Mr. Kramer said.
Ian Calder-Piedmonte, a longtime planning board member, offered perhaps the best parking solution. “Maybe something as simple as a split-rail fence” could clarify the ingress and egress, he said.
Pivoting away from parking, Louis Cortese said that Mr. Bennett had a “strong narrative,” but that given the location’s proximity to a protected waterway, “it’s very important that he upgrade the sanitary system here.”
“We’re not triggering any type of health department requirement for sanitary systems,” rejoined Mr. Bennett. He complained of the complexity of acquiring a permit, and the layers of bureaucracy. Were it not for the “significant delay” in getting a permit for a new sanitary system, he would, he said.
Eric Shantz of the Planning Department offered a possible solution. “You could apply through the Natural Resources Department, get a grant, but also be exempted from natural resources special-permit review,” he said. “It would be a great benefit to the environmental conditions of the property.”
Mr. Shantz said it shouldn’t take more than a month, but Mr. Bennett laughed that off. “Having been a former town attorney in Southampton, I know what ‘reasonable time’ means to municipalities,” he said.
Mr. Kramer concluded the review by telling Mr. Bennett, “I think you’ve gotten a pretty clear idea about what’s important to the board. We look forward to seeing the full application down the road.”
