Letters

Parking. Grrrr. Traffic. Grrrr. Sag Harbor is already an oasis, but we must work to improve our vision for the future. Right now, I’m not sure if we have one, except to fit more cars.

Sag Harbor needs to realize that public transportation is the only answer in the long run. It’s the answer to the ultimate design of the village itself, and it’s the answer to a 3-to-5-mile radius around the village on a year-round basis. This is not about servicing the influx over the summer months. This is about the environmental, historic and human health of Sag Harbor.

Walking, biking, EV scooters, even hydrofoil ferries transporting people from one beach to another, Noyac to the village or North Haven. A water taxi from Redwood to the village should exist today! EV golf carts, small shuttle buses, rickshaw-style bikes are possible alternatives.

Creating a walking village is a civic improvement that would draw more business and be better for our immediate environment.

It’s not just a thought to promote a romantic or nostalgic memory of a better Sag Harbor that existed when we could skate on Otter Pond or Round Pond, but a real and healthy alternative. It begins with how we see our village 40 years from now. Elimination of plans for parking garages and cars within the village is the only sensible way forward.

“The 15-Minute City” being implemented by Cleveland and “Divided by Design” inspire us to envision and encourage alternatives that suggest ways to do the right thing for the climate. Sag Harbor is lucky in that it is unique in its geographic layout: It ends at the bay. It is not a drive-through town like Southampton or East Hampton. So it’s much easier for us to conceive of a 15-minute village.

Real studies need to be done by real planners. This is not a bunch of people sitting around at the library or Village Hall, or creating yet another organization that doesn’t envision an inclusive future. This is about paying for visionary transportation planners and alternatives.

Imagine creating a Trastevere-like village with a few stories of apartments above charming cafes, restaurants and shops. We have the skeletal structure of that village already. This is a restructuring that Europe has used to remain viable, attractive and healthy over centuries. Americans travel to those villages in Europe all the time. There’s a reason.

Envision 20 years from now, 50 years from now. With more traffic, more parking spaces, higher parking fees, a tall garage somewhere? Do we want it to be safely servicing young people, elderly or those who don’t drive? It doesn’t currently do that.

Revising our master plan is probably a good first step.

Eleni Prieston

Sag Harbor