Springs General Store Will Be Open for Breakfast, But Not This Summer

The Springs General Store will remain shuttered for yet another summer, but its owners this week cleared an important hurdle toward opening the doors after they gave up on a proposal to allow the consumption of alcohol on the property.

Once told that the proposal for on-site consumption of beer and wine was being dropped, members of the East Hampton Town Planning Board quickly voiced support for the plans brought to them in early 2023 for a renovation of the historic general store and the creation of a tiny wine shop in a former gas station attendant’s booth on the property.

But Planning Board members continued to dwell — albeit independent from their official capacity — on what the owners of the building said after the meeting is a gross misconception of how the renewed Springs General Store will operate relative to its being open for breakfast.

“Breakfast is the cornerstone of that business, and we absolutely will be open for breakfast at 7 a.m. every day,” said Dan Bennett, one of the partners who bought the general store property in 2022. “We will still have drip coffee and egg sandwiches and everything else. It has always been part of the business model and always will be.”

Bennett called reporters after the April 3 meeting of the Planning Board because members of the board had again made a point of expressing disappointment that the plans for the general store apparently did not include breakfast.

That misconception, Bennett said, appears to have come from an unfortunate confusion of the hours of operation for the proposed wine shop — which will not open until 11 a.m. — that are listed in the application to the board, with that of the business as a whole. The general store and its kitchen will open at 7 a.m. he stressed.

What may have preoccupied board members and led to the misunderstanding was that along with the plans to renovate the building, construct a handicapped access ramp to the building, remove some small outbuildings at the rear of the property, and install a nitrogen-reducing septic system, was a proposal to allow the consumption of alcoholic beverages — just beer and wine, since that is what the business plans to sell — on the property.

The general store, with its large open parking area and long front porch, has long had a hang-out culture, drawing many on weekend mornings and afternoons to linger about picnic tables and Adirondack chairs, and Planning Board members have fretted over the potential for a “bacchanalia.”

But, last week, representatives for Bennett and his partners told the board that the owners are withdrawing their application to the State Liquor Authority for an on-premise liquor sales license, and the board, quickly, changed its tune.

“I think you’ve addressed the details satisfactorily — the big problem that I had right from the beginning, that I think everybody had, was the on-site consumption,” board member Lou Cortese said. “To turn this cherished neighborhood site into something it has never been. I think the removal of that goes a long way to appease everybody’s concerns.”

Board members were quick to go around the table and voice their support. But they are but one step in the process for the general store, which must still get wetlands permits from the Town Zoning Board of Appeals — another painstaking process that is certain to mean the store will not be open this summer, Bennett said.

“So, when will you be open?” Planning Board Chairman Sam Kramer asked Schiano.

“Well, when can we get on the Zoning Board agenda,” Schiano responded — and a collective groan rose from the board.