The organizers of the two-day Music To Know festival slated for August are considering relocating the event from a farm in Amagansett to East Hampton Airport in Wainscott, following weeks of protests by Amagansett residents.
The two Sag Harbor men organizing the event, motel owner Chris Jones and screenwriter Bill Collage, have submitted a mass gathering permit application for the East Hampton Airport property, Mr. Jones said on Friday. If the Town Board approves it, he said, the event will likely take place there, rather than Oceanview Farm on Montauk Highway in Amagansett.
“I’ve been very consistent, and so has Bill, in repeating numerous times that people can contact us and we can have an open dialogue,” he said. “And during the course of that open dialogue with multiple parties, we were encouraged to look at an alternate site and that’s exactly what we’ve done.”
However, if the new permit is denied, he said, the concert will go on as planned. The Town Board approved a mass gathering permit for Oceanview Farm in a split decision in December, just one week after the proposal was unveiled to the public. It is expected to draw 9,500 people on Saturday, August 13, and Sunday, August 14.
“Right now, we obviously have a permit in place that we can go ahead and use, and we have a second application in, which may or may not be approved,” Mr. Jones said. “To the extent that it’s approved, in all likelihood we will switch sites.”
A copy of the application and a site plan for the airport site were not available this week. The town fire marshal’s office, which has the documents, did not respond to a request under the Freedom of Information Law in time for publication.
East Hampton Airport Manager Jim Brundige said the airport has not hosted a major event during his 7-year tenure. He said it’s unclear whether the Federal Aviation Administration would have to approve the use of the airport as festival grounds.
“We’re working with our consultants on that,” Mr. Brundige said on Monday. “We’ll have a definitive answer when they research that fully.”
If the festival moves to the airport, it would be held in a large field on the southern part of the property, near Industrial Road, Mr. Brundige said. He said the town would work to make sure the festival does not interfere with normal operations of the airport.
“It’s all tentative right now, so we’re just trying to work out details, the town is trying to work them out with the planners,” he said.
Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson did not return calls seeking comment.
Mr. Jones said the company he and Mr. Collage formed to organize the event, Music To Know, has secured a number of major acts for the festival, but said he wasn’t prepared to announce them.
At a series of Town Hall meetings since the application for Oceanview Farm was approved, Amagansett residents raised concerns about traffic, crowd control and an influx of 18- to 30-year-olds into the quiet hamlet. A group of the critics last month hired an East Hampton attorney, Jeffrey Bragman, to fight the proposal.
Mr. Bragman has argued that the town was required by law to conduct a detailed environmental impact review of the festival before it was approved. He said that also holds true for the airport application.
“We’d really like to see environmental review done before you schedule a large event like this,” he said. “It’s the only prudent course to take. And that process is a very important part of this application, so we’re looking forward to seeing any information they’ve got to present.”
As he and Mr. Collage have done in recent weeks, Mr. Jones rejected the negative characterizations of the festival. “It is not that kind of event,” he said. The organizers have promised to donate $100,000 to local charities, and have argued that the festival will bring jobs and other economic benefits into town.
In response to criticisms, Music To Know has accelerated its preparation of a 50-page safety report for the event, filled with emergency plans, that will eventually be attached to the application, Mr. Jones said. He added the firm has been in talks with the town police chief and fire marshal over safety and logistics.
“We heard what the community said about that,” he said. “We’ve done it earlier than we would have ordinarily done.”
