Taking a Bow

The latest Express Sessions panel discussion in Westhampton Beach, “Three Years in Westhampton Beach — How To Remake a Main Street,” on January 26 allowed village officials and business owners the well-earned opportunity to take a bow for their roles in the village business district’s renaissance over the last few years at the culmination of two major multimillion-dollar projects: the complete overhaul of Main Street and the addition of a new sewer district.

But the discussion, held at Buoy One in Westhampton, also offered a chance to look to the future, and ask the question: What’s next?

The Main Street revitalization project completely transformed the village’s business district with repaved roads, the addition of a new traffic-calming roundabout, wider sidewalks, retooled parking, buried power lines, new plantings, new light fixtures, and a host of other cosmetic and solid infrastructure changes. It was the culmination of years of planning that began soon after Mayor Maria Moore took office in 2014. She, along with Deputy Mayor Ralph Urban and Building and Zoning Administrator Brad Hammond, took part in the Express Sessions discussion; they described the herculean effort it took to get the project to move forward.

But that wasn’t the end of the planning. Almost simultaneously, the village moved forward with a plan to create a sewer district in the business district, realizing a dream that had been talked about in Westhampton Beach, without action, for a half century.

And in the middle of both projects, along came a global pandemic to throw a wrench in the works. But officials never slowed down — they pushed forward and completed both projects.

On a parallel front were the Main Street business owners, who, faced with torn-up streets for months at a time while both projects were underway, not to mention the drop in foot traffic from both the construction and COVID, bravely endured the hardships, trusting that the new Main Street would eventually lead to a more vibrant downtown. The dream was to create a destination village full of eager shoppers and consumers anxious to patronize the village’s shops and restaurants.

And that’s exactly what happened, according to Brunetti’s Pizza owner Michael Brunetti and Lillian’s Hair Salon owner Lillian Schon, who were participants in the Express Sessions event. This past summer was one of the busiest and most vibrant they’ve seen, they said, making the hardships of the past three years worthwhile.

And it’s not going to stop there. The recently completed sewer project will make it possible for more bars and restaurants to take root on Main Street; a boutique hotel, dependent on the new sewers, is in the works; and there’s talk of second-floor housing above businesses, which can begin to address the affordable housing crisis.

How did they do it? How did village officials find the vision and commitment, and patient cooperation of a business community, to do what many officials before them had contemplated but, in the end, repeatedly punted on?

According to Moore and Urban, it was the result of a Village Board whose members worked together, putting aside any political differences, to make the future well-being of the village their only consideration and priority.

“It’s a cohesive board with similar goals,” Urban said at the event. “Sometimes how to get to those goals is discussed, but that’s been key to have that kind of leadership and a board in place.”

Perhaps that’s the biggest lesson imparted at the event, and one that officials from other nearby villages — especially those that seem to drown in their own self-centered bickering — should be paying attention to. The successes in Westhampton Beach are due, primarily, to a board that puts the village, its business owners and residents first.

They should accept the praises of a grateful village — and get back to work with the next steps to realize their collective vision for the future. Westhampton Beach is now a pacesetting village, and everyone will benefit from the momentum.