In his State of the Town address last Thursday, East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc highlighted areas of concern, conflict, and possibility that East Hampton will encounter this year.
Mr. Van Scoyoc began his address with an update on Covid-related developments as Long Island continues to lead the state in this season’s surge of new cases, noting the availability of free Covid (and flu) tests through 2022. He said the town was tuned in to reducing economic impacts by encouraging outdoor dining through zoning changes, and by working with state Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. to pass legislation that updates State Liquor Authority regulations to support off-site catering businesses. “We will continue to monitor and work to mitigate the effects of the pandemic for as long as necessary,” he said.
On the housing front, the town launched its robust All Hands On Housing initiative a year ago as Mr. Van Scoyoc noted that the pandemic had contributed to skyrocketing real estate costs and a “dramatic shortage of housing.” He argued that “housing continues to be one of the most serious and immediate threats to the well-being and sustainability of our community.” To address the chronic housing crunch, the town pledged to address the housing crisis “as fast as possible” and board members were tasked with various duties — develop a community housing fund plan, review potential code changes to allow for accessory units and other housing reforms, acquire land, and actually develop housing units.
Fifty such units are under development on Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton and the town is also advancing plans to build 16 single-family homes at 395 Pantigo Road. A partnership with Habitat for Humanity “resulted in another affordable house,” for a single parent and veteran, he said. Other housing initiatives in 2022 included advancing plans for dozens of rental units at the former Triune Baptist Church property on Route 114, close to Sag Harbor but in the Wainscott School District, and increasing the allowable density of affordable single-family homes from two units per acre to four per acre, “as allowed under Suffolk County health regulations.”
This year, a community housing fund committee will take flight under new legislation passed by the board last year that will advise the town on “developing policies and procedures and will vet and recommend expenditures of the community housing fund to the board.”
Speaking of taking flight, Mr. Van Scoyoc reiterated the town’s intention to transition the East Hampton Town Airport to what’s known as a “prior-permission-required” model of operation, “which we believe will give the town the most flexibility in crafting legislation that balances the needs of the entire community.”
He reviewed the battle to date at the airport, noting multiple lawsuits that had been filed against the town as it set out to impose “reasonable restrictions on the hours of operation, traffic volume, noise, and environmental impacts” associated with the airport and said that, under a court order, the town has initiated a Generic Environmental Impact Study to look into potential impacts of its desired course of action. “The town board remains committed to successfully reaching our community’s goals to gain meaningful relief to the ever-growing multitude of people whose quality of life is negatively affected by aircraft noise, and to improve the environment by reducing emissions,” he concluded.
Another hot-button issue in 2022 was the town’s efforts to improve wireless communications, especially in Springs, where cell service is sketchy at best. A short-term solution in the form of a “cell on wheels,” or COW, was plopped onto the Town Dock at Gann Road in June, while the town’s planning board and architectural review board set out to review and eventually approved a new emergency communications tower in Springs. The so-called Camp Blue Bay tower, said Mr. Van Scoyoc, will help to complete a townwide emergency services upgrade while providing service in some dead-zone areas in Springs. But it’s not enough, he said, adding that pending updates to town code would make it easier for carriers like Verizon or AT&T to locate equipment in dead zones.
He said a draft wireless communications plan will be presented later this month or in February to address the fact that more than 90 percent of residents surveyed were less concerned about aesthetic considerations than improving service.
It’s been a big year for proposed building projects in East Hampton, most notably a planned $25 million-plus new senior citizens center on property located next to the Terry King ball field off Abraham’s Path in Amagansett. This week the board zeroed in on two design plans offered by the R2 Architectural and Engineering firm and is hashing out details including placement (and cost) of solar plans before it signs off on one or the other. This, said Mr. Van Scoyoc, is the town’s first foray into a building project with the goal of reaching “net zero” emissions by producing as much energy as it uses.
Other upcoming projects include new baseball fields at the town’s Stephen Hand’s Path recreational facility to replace Little League fields displaced by the new Stony Brook Southampton Hospital satellite emergency facility, construction of which will begin later this year.
Other building projects completed or in the works included pickleball courts in Montauk, and the reconstruction of the Lars Simenson Skatepark in Montauk. The town is also looking at what might be done with the aging buildings at the Brooks-Park site in Springs.
Mr. Van Scoyoc also reported “several milestones” from 2022 on the renewable energy front, including land-based work undertaken for the South Fork Wind project that will eventually produce energy to power 70,000 homes. The town also completed a solar array on the roof of the its Parks Department building, saving the town $10,000 in annual energy costs. Mr. Van Scoyoc said additional electric vehicle charging stations are afoot on the Town Hall campus and that townwide LED streetlighting upgrades “will soon be underway and should be completed in 2023.”
Using community preservation funds, the town acquired 26 parcels totaling nearly 73 acres in 2022, including 33 acres of farmland in Amagansett and another 10 in East Hampton. Mr. Van Scoyoc said revenues for the C.P.F. are “robust” with a fund balance of $65 million. He also addressed another hot-button issue for 2023 — a proposed wastewater treatment facility in Montauk. An associated land purchase of 18.8 acres in Montauk, he said, “could directly benefit water quality in Lake Montauk and Fort Pond.”
The town wants to trade that land to the county in exchange for 14 acres of county parkland in Hither Woods, where it would build the treatment plant — a plan that has been met with intense pushback in Montauk. He encouraged community participation to address an “untenable situation” that currently sees 500,000 gallons of raw sewage getting flushed into the ground daily. On the sewage front, Mr. Van Scoyoc also emphasized the town’s push for upgraded sewage treatment systems in all new construction in town.
The town’s bond rating is holding steady at AAA, the highest rating, but Mr. Van Scoyoc issued a cautionary note as he identified significant growth in year-round residency over the past few years, “and with this growth, increasing demands for service,” which, he said, in combination with housing unaffordability, had trickled out to staffing shortfalls.
Still, he said, the town’s finances are in “excellent shape.”
