The Village of Sag Harbor has not yet given up on its vision of creating a waterfront park that includes acreage where luxury condominiums are planned by the owners. Officials will soon make a decision about whether to embark on a measure of last resort—to condemn three parcels located at 1,3 and 5 Ferry Road, the last undeveloped waterfront area in the village.
The privately owned property, which totals about 1.3 acres, lies next to a roughly 1-acre triangular lot the village already owns just south of the Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter Memorial Bridge. Officials had already planned to transform the village-owned property into a waterfront park, but more recently their hope has been to add the Ferry Road properties to create a larger park, which would be called the John Steinbeck Waterfront Park.
The condominiums’ would-be developers, Emil Telal and Michael Maidan of a limited liability company called East End Ventures, have partnered with Greystone Development and applied for Village Planning Board approval for the proposed eight-unit condominium complex. They are currently in the middle of the State Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQRA, review process.
The proposed condos would be an “as-of-right development,” meaning they would comply with the village’s current zoning regulations. Last week, however, the Village Board agreed to hire attorney Saul Fenchel of Berkman, Henoch, Peterson, Peddy and Fenchel P.C. to advise them about the process of exercising eminent domain. Village Attorney Fred W.Thiele Jr. said they have not yet taken any concrete steps toward actually condemning the parcels, however.
To exercise the right of eminent domain, the village would have to pay fair market value for the property and use it for a valid public purpose.
“Legally, they certainly have the ability to acquire the property, because it is a valid purpose,” Mr. Thiele said. “But the issue, I think, for the village going forward,” he continued, “is going to be the question of valuation and how the village intends to pay.”
Mr. Thiele said there is an inherent risk with condemnation, because the Village Board would essentially be agreeing to buy the property without knowing what it will cost.
The Ferry Road parcels are currently being appraised by Southampton Town because late last year they were added, at the village’s request, to the town’s Community Preservation Fund list of hoped-for purchases. CPF money cannot be used when the seller does not want to sell, however.
Other options include a bond issue, seeking private funds or applying for state or federal grants, according to Mr. Thiele.
He said he does not yet know what the appraised value will be. “The property owner can decide either to take that amount or challenge that in court,” he explained. “If you find out you don’t like the price the judge makes, you don’t get to give the property back.”
When asked to comment on Friday, Greystone Development said the company was “disappointed” to hear that the village had retained special counsel and “baffled by the village’s unwillingness to engage with us in a constructive dialogue.”
Greystone had from the beginning sought to work cooperatively with the village, even proposing a public green space as part of the development “to accommodate the village’s desire for community access to the waterfront.
“This project will only enhance the Sag Harbor waterfront and we remain deeply committed to its completion,” the statement said.
Asked whether Sag Harbor would be able to condemn the property and then sell it to Southampton Town, which would then purchase it with CPF money, Mr. Thiele said that would be unlikely, because the property would have already been preserved. “The intent of the CPF is to preserve property, not to buy property,” he said.
Ultimately, Mr. Thiele said, “the issue the village needs to consider is a policy decision.”
Alisha Steindecker on Jan 18, 2016