Time To Listen

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman is, in civilian life, involved in the hospitality industry on the South Fork. This is merely a statement of fact, not a criticism or indictment. It’s merely to note that it could influence what he sees when he looks at the Bel-Aire Cove Motel property at the tip of Penny Pond in Hampton Bays: an opportunity.

His original plan — to have the town purchase the shaggy, polluting motel property, which was being used as makeshift affordable housing, and spearhead a redevelopment of the site, possibly as a luxury resort — aimed to remove a use seen as deleterious by many Hampton Bays residents, to bolster the hamlet’s tourism offerings, and to get a comfortable boost in tax revenue from the land. All reasonable goals, and even a clever plan.

There’s only one problem: Since the town bought the 1.47-acre property for just over $1 million in 2019, the public has largely wanted a different use — a public park and a boat launch into Penny Pond, which empties into Shinnecock Bay. When asked, they’ve steadfastly replied with a surprisingly unified voice. And now, by petition, a group of residents is saying it even louder.

It’s time for the Southampton Town Board to listen. There’s nothing wrong, in principle, with the redevelopment idea. But when the people are asked for an opinion, and they give it — firmly — it seems curious, all things being equal, not to deliver what they want.

All things, of course, are not equal — they never are. Creating a park at the site would mean taking the land off the tax rolls, plus taking on the costs of landscaping and building a boat ramp, plus annual maintenance costs. It’s the antithesis of the commercial redevelopment opportunity Schneiderman had in mind. That’s why it’s officially “off the table,” as he said publicly last week.

But there are reasons to reconsider. First, the town’s small investment in a waterfront property seems, in retrospect, like a steal. Certainly, it would have been better to use Community Preservation Fund revenue to make the purchase, but even with general fund revenues, $1 million for an acre and a half on the water is a pretty thrifty use of taxpayer funds. Likewise, it won’t be a burden to keep it off the tax rolls, balanced against the return town taxpayers can get: an actual bayside pocket park, with bonus access to the water by small crafts. Had it been the plan all along, it would look like a smart use of town resources.

Even the Suffolk County Planning Commission, back in 2019 when the property was purchased, looked askance at the development plan, noting that the motel on the site — the negative, nonconforming use that drove the initial purchase — would just be recreated instead of eliminated. Likewise, putting a motel on the water clashes mightily with the town’s message about “retreat” in an era of climate change, whereas a park offers both passive recreation opportunities and, in theory, an opportunity to mitigate a flood’s impact by absorbing some of the rising waters.

Schneiderman shouldn’t be raked over the coals for thinking about economic development and boosting Hampton Bays as a tourist destination — it’s a worthwhile notion, and the supervisor has been consistent in that vision as a way to improve the hamlet’s overall health. But are 12 hotel units, high-end though they may be, really a better use for this site, currently a town-owned property?

Nobody should be pilloried for the 2019 decision to buy this property. It was unfortunate that the town, ever aware of the lack of affordable housing, put several families on the street at closing — but the property was never designed to serve as year-round dwellings, and the environmental effects were a concern. It was the easiest $1 million the town will ever spend.

It added that small parcel to the town’s holdings, for whatever use it chooses. So, now, the Town Board has the option to pivot and do something positive for Hampton Bays — and, in a sense, adding to its tourism appeal with pocket park that could bring more value than yet another cluster of hotel rooms.

Back in early 2019, when the land purchase was on the table, then-Councilwoman Christine Scalera wanted to use CPF money for the purchase instead. Her move failed, and she opposed the redevelopment plan, saying, “I hope that you’re right, because you’ve dug your heels in on this despite a lot of opposition.”

It’s four years later — and time to stop digging in the heels. Listen to Hampton Bays, and give it what it truly wants.