Rona Klopman, chairwoman of the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee, began its meeting Monday night by addressing a recent East Hampton Town Board proposal to bypass planning and zoning regulations when weighing a project’s benefits to the community against its impacts on the environment.
“They’ve been working two years on zoning,” she said, “and all of a sudden the town wants to get rid of zoning? It’s a little bit confusing to me.”
A relatively mild discussion of the potentially fractious proposal followed, after which Councilman Tom Flight, the town board’s liaison to the committee, summed up one of its key aspects. “We love the environment, but affordable housing is a major need, and sometimes the [planning and zoning] processes get in the way,” he said.
Whether the “public interest” should take precedence over private consequences was one question from the evening’s unusually large audience. As Michael Diesenhaus put it, “What recourse do I have if I’m the neighbor and the town wants to build next to me?”
“That’s a great question,” said
Mr. Flight. “I don’t have the answer right now.”
The town board was to have scheduled a public hearing on the matter for next Thursday, but tabled the procedure last week after critics called the proposal “overly broad” and objected to the hearing’s “short notice.” It will be noticed instead next Thursday, meaning that May 15 is the soonest it can be held.
The remainder of Monday’s meeting was devoted in large part to the hamlet’s Cranberry Hole Road bridge, which has been closed for repairs or reconstruction for going on two years.
The bridge is “owned by the [Metropolitan Transportation Authority] and ‘operated’ by the Long Island Rail Road,” Mr. Flight explained, while “the town owns the walking surface and the roadway underneath.”
If that weren’t complicated enough, he cautioned that “all of this is completely dependent on the state budget.” The capital plan is awaiting final approval in Albany, and the M.T.A., which would pay most of the bridge costs, has a big stake in its approval. “If it’s not approved, this is not happening,” said Mr. Flight.
Both State Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni and State Senator Anthony Palumbo have pushed for the funding, said the councilman. If it comes through, he said, “they are optimistic” — which could mean that the long-awaited project, now estimated to cost about $30 million, might or might not begin.
“What about taking the bridge down and building a ramp?” someone suggested.
“The L.I.R.R. feels that railroad crossings are unsafe,” Mr. Flight replied.
“Could it be opened on a temporary basis?” was another question.
“If the capital plan doesn’t get approved,” Mr. Flight said, noting that the bridge was designed to take up to three tons but had deteriorated thanks in large part to overweight vehicles, “I will push for license-plate readers or something to keep heavy trucks off.”
“It seems like the governor doesn’t care,” someone else remarked.
“Carl Hamilton said the Fire Department sent her three letters, and she never responded” was the answer.
Ellen Kahn and Francis Piderit of Devonshire Road have 80 or so signatures so far on a new petition to fund and reconstruct the bridge, which they passed around the audience at the Amagansett School library, where ACAC meetings are held. The petition cites reduced access to the many homes in the area, the risk of delays for emergency personnel, and increased traffic on alternate routes such as Abram’s Landing Road and Old Stone Highway. The couple can be reached by emailing [email protected] or at 917-916-7575.
