After months of discussion at Sag Harbor Village Board meetings, members of the public will have their say in front of the Southampton Town Board at 1 p.m. on Jan. 24 regarding a potential use of community preservation fund money on the John Steinbeck house on Bluff Point Lane in the village. Residents can also submit written comments to the board before the 24th.
“There’s been people on this for the better part of two years,” said Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni, who brought the idea to the town board.
The Sag Harbor Partnership has been raising money over the past year to use in combination with money from the C.P.F. and a state grant of $500,000. More than 33,000 people have signed a petition urging the town to preserve the house.
If the board approves the use of the money, the partnership plans to make the house and grounds into a writing retreat managed by the University of Texas at Austin, which has offered a $10 million endowment for the project.
Mr. Schiavoni said that because C.P.F. money would be used in the purchase, the public must have access to the property. At present it’s expected to be open four weekends a year for tours.
“We’re getting it right here,” Mr. Schiavoni said, “with the writers center and public access.”
Built in 1929, Mr. Steinbeck’s property is listed at $14.5 million, according to Sotheby’s Realty, which notes on its website that there is an “upside opportunity for building” on the parcel’s 1.26 acres. While what’s there now is a “cozy” two-bedroom, two-bathroom cottage, under current zoning laws a new house could exceed 9,000 square feet.
