New Owner of 22 Long Island Avenue and 2 Main Street in Sag Harbor Pledges To Work With Village on Redevelopment Plans

Jeremy Morton, who is in contract to purchase the buildings at 22 Long Island Avenue and 2 Main Street, made his initial appearance before the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board on November 26, pledging to work with the village on his plans to refurbish and expand them.

“I look forward to the process and getting feedback from both your board and potentially the [Zoning Board of Appeals] and [Board of Architectural Review and Historic Preservation],” Morton told the board during a presubmission conference, which is a public hearing intended as an initial opportunity for an applicant to unveil his or her plans and the board and public to respond to them.

Morton provided little in the way of details about his construction plans, other than the fact that he wants to extend the second floor on the Water Street Shops building at 22 Long Island Avenue, best known for its former tenant 7-Eleven, and finish an existing second floor on the neighboring building at 2 Main Street, which is known locally as “Fort Apache.”

But he earned a favorable response from the board when he said he wanted to work with the village to improve access to John Steinbeck Waterfront Park from his property.

“We really want to create an access point to this, to really allow a public thoroughfare,” he said.

Planning Board Chairman John Shaka said improved park access would be a plus and noted that currently the park is “kind of hemmed in.”

Morton told the board he had “specific plans for improving the parking” as well as traffic circulation at the site but did not provide details.

His attorney, Tiffany Scarlato, said the properties had a number of grandfathered parking spaces and would work with the village, while Morton said he wanted to file an application that would require the least number of variances possible.

Morton also told the board he was aware the buildings “are the first visual representation of Sag Harbor when you come over the bridge” and he pledged to come up with a design that would be “consistent with traditional Sag Harbor,” citing such diverse buildings as the John Jermain Memorial Library, the Old Whalers’ Church and The American Hotel.

Shaka urged Morton to consider both the water side and street side of the property in his design. “You don’t want to turn your back to the village,” he said. “But you have a really nice asset on the waterfront side.”

Morton, who lives in Northwest Woods, East Hampton, said he was a local builder and was working on four or five houses in the Sag Harbor area. He told the board he had purchased the Mill shopping center in Water Mill, renovated it, and increased the number of tenants there. He also purchased the building at the corner of Hill Street and Windmill Lane in Southampton Village and had increased the number of tenants from two to 16 after a major renovation, he said.

Morton recently purchased the two Sag Harbor buildings from limited liability corporations controlled by developer Adam Potter, who is now focusing on a mixed-use building at 11 Bridge Street.

Two tenants of 2 Main Street said they were happy Morton was buying their building.

Marianne Barnett, who owns the Sag Harbor UPS store with her husband, Michael Hayes, said she also owned the Southampton UPS store, which is just up the street from Morton’s building at Hill Street and Windmill Lane.

“I witnessed what he was able to do with a dilapidated building and the time frame in which he was able to do it in,” she said. “It was simply amazing to see the change and transformation and revitalization of that end of Hill Street.”

Tora Matsuoka, an owner of K Pasa restaurant, said he appreciated the way that Morton had reached out to his business and proposed improving the aesthetics of the property.

“I don’t think I’m hurting anybody’s feelings when I say that building is not the prettiest I’ve ever seen,” he said. “So the idea of a landlord interested in investing money to make it look nicer benefits not only the village but the tenants as well.”

The board closed the hearing, but left the record open to written comments for 10 days.

Potter DEIS Incomplete

After reviewing a 16-page memo submitted by John Ellwsorth, of Nelson Pope Voorhis, the village’s planning consultant, the board determined that a draft environmental impact statement submitted as part of Adam Potter’s proposed mixed-use development at 11 Bridge Street was incomplete.

Ellsworth raised questions about a wide range of items in the DEIS, from the size of the application, which was originally listed as including 44 apartments and 7,935 square feet of commercial space, but now calls for 48 apartments and 8,576 square feet of commercial space, to concerns about parking, sewer hookup.

Once the DEIS is accepted, the board will hold a hearing on it and then prepare a final environmental impact statement before the project will be allowed to proceed.