Springs General Store Plans Are Refreshed, But Wine Sales Continue to Fuel Concerns of Bacchanalia

After missing a season of business, the owners of the Springs General Store have returned to the East Hampton Town Planning Board with an updated proposal for their renovations of the historic and popular shop — although the lynchpin of the proposal continued to be the creation of a wine shop in a former gas station attendant shed on the property.

Members of the Planning Board applauded most of the new updates — including a redesigned handicapped access ramp and parking arrangements, an extensive revegetation plan of the grounds behind the store and plans for the installation of a nitrogen-reducing septic system — but continued to voice strong concerns about the details of how the new wine shop and the main general store business would operate.

The attorney for the store, John Bennett, whose two sons are among the partners who purchased the store in 2022, said that the general store has been issued two licenses by the New York State Liquor Authority, one on-site consumption of alcohol at the general store, which will sell beer, and a second license allowing the sale of wine from the adjacent shed.

He said the owners would take whatever steps the Planning Board needed to ensure that they it did not become an “out-of-control, alcohol fueled gin mill,” as the attorney put it.

But the convergence worried Planning Board members, who said they have heard from many in the Springs community about concerns the property, which has a long history of drawing crowds to impromptu social gatherings and musical performances, could develop into something more “rowdy.”

Bennett sought to allay their fears with assurances that the early closing time — 9 p.m. — and the fact that only wine could be sold from the shed and only beer from within the store, would keep things subdued. The separate wine sales location, which will also be a separate business, is a necessity of state liquor laws that do not currently allow the sale of wine or liquor at grocery stores and delis like in many other states. Selling wine and hard alcohol require separate permits and Bennett said there would be no liquor.

“There is no certificate of occupancy for a bar or restaurant — it’s a food store and that use is self-regulating,” Bennett said. “What I’m trying to fight is the nightmare concern … people wandering around the property drunk.

“This place is going to close at 9 p.m., it will sell wine and beer, no liquor … we did that to allay the fears the board has,” the attorney added. “When I was young … if someone said let’s go to a wine bar, you’d have said you gotta be crazy.”

The assurances weren’t entirely convincing as members of the board said that before they would be willing to issue approvals for the wine shop they wanted to be sure that the way it is operated could not be changed in the future or by a future owner. To do so, they said they needed very detailed understanding of what the Bennetts’ vision is, what they would ask the SLA to allow and that very likely they would want to impose legal covenants governing how the property can be used and where and how alcohol can be consumed.

“As an almost daily patron of the old Springs General Store, I’m very happy to have it coming back online after missing a season,” board member Ed Krug said. “But we have to be really, really careful how this gets implemented. This is a stop that people make on motorcycle trips, on bike trips, people travel to be there. And it has been oversubscribed in the past … adding alcohol to the mix is going to be a little problematic no matter what we do.”

Ian Calder-Piedmont, the board’s vice chairman, said that the board should be given copies of all the SLA permits and applications that have been submitted, approved or are pending, so that the specific language of the liquor use can be incorporated into the town’s considerations — and vice-versa, as he noted that the SLA typically works with municipalities to ensure that the permits it issues parallel the local authority’s desires.

“We had talked about limiting consumption to tables, it sounds like you’re backing off of that — the details are going to be important,” Calder-Piedmont said.

Bennett said he would give the board all of the SLA documentation.

Sharon McCobb, a board member and a former owner of the Springs General Store, said that she was not bothered by the idea of someone buying a sandwich at the store and getting a bottle of wine to have with it at a picnic table or on the store’s porch.

“At the end of the day, to address the concerns of the community that are being expressed at this table, the way to deal with it is clarity,” the board’s chairman, Sam Kramer, said. “What you are hearing is uncertainty, because we don’t know. It’s in your hands to give us that knowledge … Everybody at this table wants the Springs General Store to succeed.”