Upward of 50 people attended East Hampton Village’s first workshop as it prepares to update its comprehensive plan, filling nearly every chair in the Emergency Services Building at an unconventional time, 6 o’clock on Friday evening. Familiar themes peppered the conversation: traffic congestion and speeding, lack of affordable housing, the departure of mom-and-pop shops, and the constant clatter of the landscaping and construction industries.
Noah Levine, the principal in charge of the process for BFJ Planning, said the meeting time was meant to attract weekend visitors, since the year-round population of the village is relatively small. “Our role as planners is to help the village think of general guiding principles,” he said during the meeting. Along with Emily Tolbert, a project manager for BFJ, he led an interactive presentation, at times taking straw polls of the audience, with updates appearing in real time on a large screen. Following their presentation, the crowd split into smaller discussion groups, and then a leader from each table reported back to the full group.
“We want to spend most of the meeting listening to you,” Mr. Levine said, “to get as much feedback as possible.” The complete plan, which was last updated in 2002, will act as a “to-do” list for the village and set the table for future legislation and decisions in the coming years.
The audience skewed heavily toward residents already actively engaged in village matters. Many members of the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals were in attendance, for example, as well as village employees and others from the village’s 20-person “comprehensive plan committee.”
Ms. Tolbert discussed demographics, both past and future. By 2050, she said, the village can expect a 15-percent population increase. She estimated that 1,300 year-round residents combine with roughly 5,000 seasonal residents to create issues for traffic and land use. The population in the village is old and getting older, with a median age of 57.4, perhaps one reason for a decline in school enrollment. While there has been an increase in housing since 1990, with over 100 new homes added in the village, most are for recreational use. “The seasonal population increase factor has gone up since 1990,” she said.
Much of her data came from the United States Census, and while a handful of residents questioned the numbers, Mr. Levine promised that the information was only one part of the methodology. “The Census is helpful to understand general trends, but we use a variety of different data points.”
The straw polls were informal and the atmosphere comfortable as the planners facilitated the conversation. The first
question they asked was “How are we doing so far?” They offered casual answer options that attendees punched into their smartphones: “This is boring” or “Interested but also tired, it’s been a long day.” They asked for words that best described the future that attendees envision for the village.
Slowly, the questions became more pointed.
“Which two housing issues are most important to you?” Top answers: Teardowns and “mansionization.” Which two issues should be prioritized in the village center? Reducing traffic congestion was the main goal, while maintaining the look and feel of the village edged out “More restaurant offerings” for second. Speeding in residential neighborhoods, and congestion were the two general transportation problems that participants said should be prioritized. Preservation, both of historical buildings and open space, gaining 65 percent of the vote together, were identified as the two most important recreation and culture issues. As far as sustainability goals, water quality ran away with the vote, with 40 percent of participants identifying it as their number-one concern, and stormwater management a distant second, at 16 percent of the vote.
While Mr. Levine noted that the votes weren’t scientific, they were consistent with concerns expressed at countless recent local board meetings.
The casual atmosphere engendered by all the straw polling helped break the ice, and when the group broke into smaller tables, conversation filled the room, and snippets were gathered. Moderators took notes with pads and paper. People spoke to one another. Questions were asked. Introductions made.
“We are losing longtime residents who have been here for generations.”
“If we don’t have clean water, it’s not going to matter.”
“I’d love my daughter to be able to walk across the street.”
“Village Hardware is the place I shop year round. How do we maintain that?
“We don’t need any more Chanels.”
“You have four landscaping trailers parked on a street, and it becomes a slalom course.”
“We need a continuous walking path or system through the village.”
“Remember that place? Where trees used to be, but don’t exist anymore?”
“How can we not have the constant hum of landscaping?”
A cynic might look at the village’s 2002 comprehensive plan and see that many of the issues identified then remain unsolved, and are still bugging the population. Indeed, perhaps mom-and-pop shops and quiet streets may never return to East Hampton Village. But if it’s community people are yearning for, it was right there, as neighbors sat across from neighbors and spoke about their hopes and dreams for this place they call home.
Two more workshops are promised for the coming months, but no dates have been set. In the meantime, residents may submit comments via a link prominently displayed atop the village’s website. The process and ways to be involved are detailed at bit.ly/4htUqSF.
After the workshops, a draft comprehensive plan will be written, and public hearings held, per the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act. According to a timeline shared by Mr. Levine, the village hopes to adopt the new plan in the fall of 2025.
