Feb 1, 2012 10:50 AM
The Lobster Inn has sold.
The venerable Lobster Inn restaurant, a mainstay of the local scene for more than four decades, and some 10 acres of property surrounding it have been sold by longtime owner Skip Tollefsen.
The new owners plan to develop residences on the property but expect to lease out the popular restaurant building for the coming summer, or summers, while the plan negotiates various regulatory reviews.
The new owners have been identified only as a pair of limited liability corporations, Peconic Bay Marina LLC and Peconic Bay Residences LLC. No principals are listed for the companies with New York State, and Tim McCulley, an attorney with the firm Burke and Sullivan, and who is representing the buyers, would not identify the principals by name.
Reached at his winter home in Florida this week, Mr. Tollefsen,... more
The new owners plan to develop residences on the property but expect to lease out the popular restaurant building for the coming summer, or summers, while the plan negotiates various regulatory reviews.
The new owners have been identified only as a pair of limited liability corporations, Peconic Bay Marina LLC and Peconic Bay Residences LLC. No principals are listed for the companies with New York State, and Tim McCulley, an attorney with the firm Burke and Sullivan, and who is representing the buyers, would not identify the principals by name.
Reached at his winter home in Florida this week, Mr. Tollefsen,... more
Would love to see what the environmentalists will say about this, oh wait, they are the environmentalists. And he's going to use a standard septic system under his old restaurant flow allowance. Hello - Mr. Baykeeper, where are you on this?
Another local business fading away........
It was a fun place and Skip was really good to his employees and to his customers. I'm glad that I got to enjoy it So Thanks Skip see you around.
The Lobster Inn suffering as a result of county roadwork
Publication: The Southampton Press
By Beth Young Sep 19, 2008 1:12 PM
The Lobster Inn.
view all images
Sunrise Highway didn’t go all the way to Southampton when Skip Tollefsen built the Lobster Inn in 1969, but the changes to the end of that road over the past two years are now putting the squeeze on his business.
Mr. Tollefsen appeared before the Southampton Town Planning ...more Board last week to discuss the possibility of building condominiums to replace the restaurant, and he lamented the ongoing impact of County Road 39 changes that he said have made it impossible for the restaurant to survive.
Famous for its waterfront dining, local seafood and hometown ambiance, the restaurant stands at an intersection that has become known among traffic consultants as “the bottleneck at the Lobster Inn.” That is where the two eastbound lanes had been reduced to one as Sunrise Highway ended and County Road 39 began in the shadow of the restaurant’s large red sign, before an expansion of the highway added a second lane.
The Lobster Inn, a 293-seat restaurant that includes a 48-slip marina, had little to do with the bottleneck. For years, it benefitted from increased business on Friday nights from eastbound tourists stuck in traffic, but otherwise it maintained a clientele of regular customers who returned for the venue’s trademark “splat,” a feast containing every shellfish imaginable, and other maritime delicacies.
It is also the location where the Southampton Town Trustees and a handful of baymen who practice aquaculture on Cold Spring Pond dock their boats.
When plans to improve County Road 39 by adding a second eastbound lane were finalized last year, Suffolk County banned left turns from the restaurant’s parking lot into the newly flowing traffic where the merge had been.
Last year, Mr. Tollefsen printed maps showing his customers how to get back on County Road 39 through a circuitous route that involved doubling back westbound on North Highway to Exit 66 on Sunrise Highway.
He said that many customers gave up trying to get to the restaurant, and his business was down 25 percent last year. This year, business has been even worse—but he said the county’s long-term plan for the road will be the final nail in his coffin.
Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman, who was a driving force behind the road improvement, “came in and said, ‘Skip, we’re gonna close you down,’” Mr. Tollefsen told the Southampton Town Planning Board last Thursday, September 18.
Mr. Schneiderman rejected Mr. Tollefsen’s version of the conversation and said this week that the Lobster Inn is “definitely factored in” to the county’s long-term plan. “The county hasn’t forgotten that there’s a commercial establishment there. We’re trying to resolve those issues,” he said.
Mr. Schneiderman said that he’s aware that Mr. Tollefsen is interested in selling the property and he is waiting for a concept plan from the town for potential future public use of the land.
Though there is currently a moratorium on development on County Road 39, the town exempted the Lobster Inn from that moratorium earlier this year—in exchange for an agreement from Mr. Tollefsen to give his road frontage, and the land his business’s sign is on, to the county.
The county plans to use Mr. Tollefsen’s remaining street frontage to create a service road connecting Inlet Road West, which runs alongside the restaurant, with Inlet Road East, a road that currently connects to County Road 39 just east of the former merge. The new service road created by that connection would not have access to County Road 39.
The change in the roadway, which is outlined in the county’s long-term improvement plan, might make driving safer, but it will certainly make the route more circuitous for residents who live near the inlet, who will need to drive west on North Highway to Exit 66 on Sunrise Highway before turning back on Sunrise Highway heading east.
It’s a five-minute detour for those who know the roads, but Mr. Tollefsen said that it will prove deadly for a business that had historically been dependent on eastbound drivers who do not know the area well.
If he were to keep the restaurant open, he said would need to put a sign at Exit 66 urging drivers to get onto North Highway to get to the restaurant.
Though Mr. Tollefsen has asked the county to put a traffic light in front of the restaurant to allow customers to get out, he said that it has refused, citing safety concerns.
“The county so much wants to get rid of this road,” said Mr. Tollefsen’s attorney, Wayne Bruyn. “We can’t say it’s not appropriate to make these other things safer for our neighbors.”
Over the past two years, Mr. Tollefsen had negotiated with the Town Trustees and Cornell Cooperative Extension to potentially use his property as a nature center or a marine research station, but the town was unwilling to pay Mr. Tollefsen’s asking price.
He said that he had even considered creating a world-class butterfly garden as a destination before his research revealed that he wouldn’t be able to attract enough butterflies.
Since the Lobster Inn, which stands on two parcels totalling 7 acres, is in a residential area, Mr. Tollefsen’s latest plan is to build between 14 and 30 condominiums on the site, along with a public yacht club. He said that the baymen and Trustees would still be able to use the docks, and the plan with more units could include affordable housing.
The plan is also currently before the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals, because the town had created a Maritime Planned Development District for the property in 1999 to allow Mr. Tollefsen to build a barn, woodworking shop and farm stand on his property.
Mr. Tollefsen’s attorney is arguing that the PDD has now expired and the property should revert to its original residential use.
“I wanted to grow vegetables and serve them in the restaurant, but I can’t sell what I grow myself,” said Mr. Tollefsen, citing laws that prohibit him from selling produce grown on the site. “It’s beyond me.”
“There’s been no consideration for me or my help or my customers. I told my young help to look for something else,” Mr. Tollefsen told members of the Planning Board, adding that he is now asking his aging friends to help out in the kitchen because there’s no future at the restaurant for young people looking for a career in the business.
Mr. Tollefsen no longer keeps regular hours at the Lobster Inn, and his wife, Karen, who answered the phone there Monday morning, said that this winter the restaurant will be open only on weekends, for the first time ever.
“Not too many people care. The town’s been extremely difficult,” she said of their decision to close.
This guy fronted all the money and had his capital tied up in the venture. The risk and subsequent reward are his. Would the managers employees also share equally in lawsuits? I don't think so. So when it is time to cash out then it goes to the guy who originally put up the cash.
But I'm sure you could wait the tables, serve the drinks, chef the dishes, and prep all those meals by yourself.
Maybe you should have bought it...
You just choose to hire people to make your life easier. They aren't really necessary tor the success, at all, eh?
D********s.
Assuming you are a homeowner of some years on the East End, when you someday sell your home for a profit, will you track down every lawn mower or tradesman who ever worked on your house while you owned it to share you profit with? Don't forget the guys who fills your oil tank and the Lilco and Verizon workers that enable you to post on this web site.
Just askin'
But, like I said, it would be a nice gesture considering the state of the union's "wealth"...
79 years ago? The way things are meant to be? Since the New Deal kicked in we are up to 70% of the federal budget dedicated to ever expanding entitlements and 6 figure compensated overseers. Wealth concentration, ever the bugaboo of you Marxists, is caused, not prevented by big government, as we have seen with all the influence and bail outs for sale in DC. Obviously ...more that is not the ideal you dream of when you enthusiastically elect an over-credentialed, under accomplished twit like Obama who only has to allude to "redistribution" to get you to swoon all the way to the voting booth. Only trouble is he's not specifying who he want to redistribute to or from. His taxes on the "rich" go right at the more industrious W-2 earners and small business owners in order maintain state dependents (ie reliable Democratic voters) at both the top and bottom of the income scale.
Keep slinging your assumptions about Marxism, and who you believe is part of your own personal "Red Scare" hunt. Have I ever defended the entire "New Deal"? No. Have I ever pitched that welfare is a good thing? No. Have I said that a social safety net should exist to protect the wealth of hard working, contributing members of society? Yes.
The framers ...more of this country laid it down so that corporations would not become the next Aristocracy. That's what the Founding Father's Charter System the "Robber Barons" decimated was designed to protect this country, and her people against. After that framework was undone, the Glass-Steagall Act, AND the CEA of 1936 came about after the firs "Great Depression". The CEA of '36 was instituted mostly because of speculative bubbles, relating to commodites, and the gold standard. Glass-Steagall was designed to break the Oligarchy's hold on the economy, and ensure the fate of a few people's economic status DID NOT affect millions of others. All the post Depression regulatory Acts were undermined in the last 30 years, and J. Arons was even granted the status of physical hedger (along with more than a dozen banks), instead of the speculator status it should have. This totally violates the CEA of 1936, and drives the creation of fiat currency based capital, inflatiing the dollar, and driving wealth into a select small percentage of the population, creating what Citibank chose to call "Plutonomy", a.k.a. Oligarchy.
That's just the TIP of the iceberg, you have NO idea what you are talking about, and I cordially invite you to engage in copious amounts of fellatio with yourself.
In other words...
Epidemiiology, and Praxeology.
Safety net, great, but 70% of budget to entitlements and 40%+ of taxpayers effectively netting to $0 Federal taxes, not healthy ratios. + high concentration of wealth, federal subsidies and tax breaks going to big Dem party donors.
Thank you for voting for Obama's oligarchy.
And ...more I still don't know why Skip should feel compelled to share his gains with his bus boys from 1977 and you shouldn't have to with the oppressed cable guy who visits your house.
I'll make it a simple for you, just look up "thin skinned"
Thank you in advance for giving him a little time out, perhaps a suspension if he keeps it up.
Cheers,
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"Strict application process;
Must;
1. Have complete lack of shame
2. Still have entry level income after 20+ yrs in workplace
3. Irresponsibly Produce multple offspring with multiple/rotating cast of partners
Then, if you are one of the luck such people, receive a house in a charming Eastern Long Island ...more ocean front Village at 1/5 to 1/10th of market value which you can sell at a considerable profit someday.
Seriously, keep this crap in Mastic, Shirley, North Bellport"
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Given smacw's mean, callous indifference to the plight of others and his use of "foul language" himself, dare one say that he has an agenda in silencing someone who manifests the direct opposite of these qualities other than his concern for the proprieties.
Highhat indeed, rather high opinion of your self too
VS.
Mr. Z, with an in-depth knowledge of the framers, and history, who understands how the ideals this country was founded on have been ingraciously abused, by those who are STUPID enough to believe that they can make a fiat currency based economy function, despite the fact History has proven FAR otherwise.
They remind me of an old science fiction story (morality ...more play) I read once. There was this scientist, so bent on proving he could derive subspace, zero point energy from his present Universe, he ignored the fact that it would involve controlling particles so energetic, they were formed only at the inception of the "Big Bang". It was like trying to control Creation, and not even a Ph.D. is God. He blew the t**s off 3/4 of a solar system, when the reaction uncontrollably overloaded.
In other words, keep on printing money, so "Paradise" can be overdeveloped, oversexed, and overpopulated. Hope you're enjoying the test tube Oligarchy/Plutonomy the Hamptons is, because 90% of the East End's progeny has not been so fortunate...
I just "dropped out", for a couple of days.
Sorry you didn't get the memo...
'Cause from the vantage point many have today, it's "We the Corporate Aristocracy", not "We, the People".
But, like I said, PLEASE indulge the rest of us on your explanation for why there is so much currency in economy, whilst only a comparably minute percentage can actually be backed by hard, intrinsic capital. And, while you're at it, maybe you could also explain how unregulated derivatives ...more are a good thing.
As for the "nastiness", well the Marxist insult brings it out of me. But, you're so intelligent, I'm sure I didn't have to tell you that.
If you really want to know how I have that many posts, you would have to have the capability to observe that I have been on these boards for almost THREE YEARS. That includes one very hotly contested election season. Also, one of my three jobs, not counting sidework on autombiles and PCs, is being a part-time moderator on a website. Since computing is one of my occupations, maybe now you can grasp how it's possible for someone who manages ...more their time rather well, to have a ticker count as such.
HAVE A NICE DAY.
Capitalism doesn't offend me. The abuse of it does. Were I sitting on a mountain of gold, thanks to the massive printing of money by the Fed under the Greenspan years, and the massively inflated price of real estate on the East End, I would seek out those most loyal to me over the years. I would see how they were, and let them know I won't forget that had I not had such a solid crew of people, I may have shuttered my doors years ago without the support of the staff that makes ...more a business run.
I have chosen in life not to forget where I came from.
And, of course I wish Skip all the best in his retirement. It's something many people have been screwed out of these days, and should be treasured...
I don't know who you are ...more any more than I know Skip...But you just seem to want to be mad at people. So, go be mad, don't pick fights here. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions, but clear thinking people can see right through your petty sniping.
I'll quote the sign that's posted outside of a business a few miles down the road from the Lobster Inn, in front of Zabi's Liqueur Store: BE NICE.
An honorable man Skip offered a sum to, who did not need it, would refuse it, now wouldn't he?
Considering how the "wealth" has been created, well, you don't get the picture...
Are you an employer?
Good times for all.......good luck guys
Like it, or not...
P.S. That's a rather idiotic moniker, but would be apt in today's society to describe one who exhibited the primitve psychological trait of greed, or hoarding. Much like the proverbial chimpanzee at the top of the tree, gorging itself on most of the fruit, while tossing rinds to all those below.
The reason I feel the way I do on this issue is because were it not for the way the wealth was created, I would accept the value assigned to the property. As it stands, easily half of our money supply is worthless, printed fiat currency. It's worth x, because someone demands it is. For the WaterMillian to state factors such as the behavior of the Fed is not only ludicrous, but idiotic from an empirical standpoint.
The property would probably ...more only be worth half of what it is today, and maybe less, had the Treasury not flooded the market with baseless capital for the last 20 years. Thus, a significant amount of the "profit" really wasn't "earned". It was enabled.
End of line.
Could the editor e-mail me a copy?
Is this an east end sickness?
I blame it on the illegal leaf rakers you all love so much.............
Ha Ha..... I only read this rag for the comments, by the wimps hiding behind their computers talking poop...
Long live Long Island...............
Fiddle Fiddle Fiddle
I'll miss the excellent food and fun atmosphere that the Lob Inn always provided - many great memories made in this place! I hope whatever ends up developed on this site is worthwhile, as this property had dreams built on it.
Enjoy your time in the sun Skip and have ...more a cranberry juice for me! :-)
The reason I feel the way I do on this issue is because were it not for the way the wealth was created, I would accept the value assigned to the property. As it stands, easily half of our money supply is worthless, printed fiat currency. It's worth x, because someone demands it is. For the WaterMillian to state leaving out such factors such as the behavior of the Fed, et al. is not only ludicrous, ...more but idiotic from an empirical standpoint. It would be like defining fire, without noting it consumes oxygen.
The property would probably only be worth half of what it is today, and maybe less, had the Treasury not flooded the market with baseless capital for the last 20 years via casino style betting on markets, and pumping capital in every time a bubble dumped, or "popped". Thus, a significant amount of the "profit" here really wasn't "earned". It was enabled by the government, which issued the fiat currency. I'm sure that conclusion should just THRILL all you "conservative Republicans" out there who just HATE IT when the government is an "enabler".
So when I say that it would be a "nice gesture" to reward the very loyal employess one depended on for so many years, I say it because it is something I would do, considering the circumstances. I wouldn't take it as far as smacw so wildly assumes, but I would do it.
And of course, you should know by now that I'm not a Democrat, OR a Republican.
Doublestandard, thanks for the compliment.
End of line.
Oh well...
Learing how to read is one thing. Comprehension is another skill it it's own entirety. And statistics? That's a skill you SORELY lack.
See ya'...
And, can you please share your most visited sources of information on the world wide web? Thank you.
Some of the sites I do frequent are larouchepac, Rolling Stone, Too Much, Bloomberg, Businessweek, Reuters, et al. I read alot of it, don't necessarily agree with all of it, but one thing I can tell you for sure, is that there are currently, roughly 291 trillion dollars in the derivatives market, with approximately 13 trillion ...more in hard assets behind it. That game is a MAJOR part of our problems. Fake money. Fiat currency.
Returning this country to it's Glass-Steagall (HR1489) stability would be a start. Slowly stripping the economy of fiat currency would be second, reinstating the Charter System, and ending "corporate personhood" for all time would round out the basics.
As for the "no matter who wins, we all lose" sentiment, as long as those in power are corrupted by special interests, money, and it's influence, we will never have an equitable, nor sustainable society.
How does that sound?