Marsden Properties, Which Sag Harbor School District Had Sought and Failed To Acquire Last Year, Have Sold

Four contiguous lots totaling 3.37 acres on the north side of Marsden Street in the heart of Sag Harbor Village are in contract, sold for an undisclosed sum, after being listed for $9 million by Saunders and Associates.

The lots — which have been owned by the Trunzo family for 50 years, and vacant for as long — were the subject of intense scrutiny and controversy that captivated the entire village last year. The Sag Harbor School District, just across the street from the lots, had sought to buy them and expand the school district’s comparatively small footprint, for potential development into athletic fields or other school use that would have been determined with community input.

That opportunity slipped away on May 16, when a proposition on the school budget vote to purchase the four lots — as well as a smaller fifth lot across the street, also owned by the Trunzo family — with a combination of a $6 million bond and $3.425 million from capital reserves was voted down by district residents by a narrow margin, 1,156-1,081.

Earlier this week, Pat Trunzo III said he was not at liberty to disclose who purchased the four lots and for what price, but when asked if he had a sense of what the new owners might do with the property he said, “They’re building lots, so I’m sure they’re going to build houses on them.”

That’s an outcome that none of the vocal residents on either side of the issue last year, who engaged in heated and often emotional debate at various School Board meetings leading up to the vote, will be happy to hear.

Proponents of the district’s proposal to purchase the lots were eager to see the land provide more opportunities for students in a school district that has traditionally been limited in what it can offer students, particularly when it comes to athletics, because it lacks enough space to build a sufficient number of athletic fields for its interscholastic sports teams. As a result, teams have been forced to practice and play at Mashashimuet Park, located more than a mile away from the school.

The district pays a six-figure sum to the park annually to use its facilities, and much needed capital improvements at the park would likely need to be funded by the district.

Opponents of the plan cited environmental concerns, particularly at the prospect of constructing a playing field on the land, and said they wanted to see the land preserved, imploring the Southampton Town Community Preservation Fund to purchase the land and save it from development.

A group of neighbors to the properties sent a letter to the new Town Board earlier this year, asking its members to consider buying the parcels. Trunzo said he also asked his real estate agent, Lori MacGarva of Saunders, to reach out to the town and let the board know he would be willing to sell the property to the town. Despite several attempts to reach out to the town, he said, he did not hear back from the town.

The fifth lot across the street, 12 Marsden Street, also will be developed. Last month, the village’s Board of Architectural Review and Historic Preservation approved Trunzo’s application to build a house there, which he plans to do soon, and then put the house on the market.

In the weeks leading up to the vote last year, Trunzo publicly expressed his support for the school district buying the property, and had even offered the district somewhat of a bargain, agreeing to sell the smaller lot on the opposite side of the street for a below-market price.

“I was and still am disappointed that the school’s bid to acquire the property did not succeed,” Trunzo said earlier this week. “I think it would’ve been a good thing for the community and the school. But it didn’t pass, and the voters have spoken, so I can’t argue with it too much.

“The time has come for my family to capitalize on this investment,” he added. “And that’s what’s happening.”