Letters

Our organization, Save Sag Harbor, exists to protect the village’s historic character and quality of life, and we firmly believe that unless we increase our stock of affordable housing, that character will be lost.

But there are good solutions to the problem of affordable housing, and poor ones.

One good solution is the proposed Community Housing Fund, which will raise tens of millions of dollars for affordable housing in Suffolk County. We urge everyone to vote yes to the CHF in the referendum on November 8.

Another good solution is Local Law 13, passed in June by the Village Board to help increase the number of accessory dwellings in Sag Harbor.

A poor solution to our housing problem, as currently presented, is the massive development proposed (110,000 square feet) by Conifer Realty for the middle of Sag Harbor’s office district, in a frequent flood zone that also has toxic waste conditions.

We believe the Village Board erred in passing legislation, Local Law 12, that encouraged such large and dense development without considering the environmental consequences.

In addition to its drainage, sewage and toxic remediation issues, this development could generate serious traffic and parking problems — on top of the ones we have already. Just one example: The number of commercial spaces and apartments in Conifer’s plan, under our previous zoning code, would have required the developer to provide almost 300 parking spaces. Their plan provides 30. Where are the folks housed in this development expected to park?

And what happens to Main Street shops when the overflow from Conifer’s development prevents their customers from parking? Save Sag Harbor was founded to protect our Main Street and its mix of local businesses. These shops are already threatened by the parking shortage.

Furthermore, should workers, or young families, be asked to live in a flood zone, on top of a toxic waste site, just because they need affordable housing?

New York State’s SEQRA law requires that governments consider all these sorts of issues before passing legislation. Our Village Board ignored them, apparently eager to enable a development that waved the banner of affordable housing.

This is why we have filed a legal petition requesting that Local Law 12 be overturned.

Inevitably, the boosters of the Conifer project are trying to cast us as NIMBYs who don’t care about affordable housing. The charge is false. We would be glad to see well-planned affordable housing in downtown Sag Harbor, so long as the project, and any enabling legislation, undergoes thorough environmental review, respects the village’s historic scale and character, and takes sensible steps to avoid worsening the parking and traffic problems that already choke our business district.

Hilary Loomis

Save Sag Harbor

The letter was also signed by board members of Save Sag Harbor: Bob Weinstein, Barbara Roberts, Tom Clavin, Randolph Croxton, Myrna Davis, Sara Gage, Elizabeth Gilbert, Peter Ginna, Cathleen McGuigan and Dan Weiss — Ed.