Plastic Cutlery Will Become Scarce in Sag Harbor After Board Approves New Restrictions
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MAGDA EHLERS
MAGDA EHLERS
Stephen J. Kotz on Nov 18, 2025
Countless kitchen drawers will become less crowded in the Sag Harbor area now that the Village Board, on November 12, adopted a code amendment that prevents restaurants and takeout businesses... more
The Hamptons International Film Festival typically takes up a lot of oxygen in the fall on the South Fork, but it’s worth celebrating a slightly smaller but just as vital event in late autumn: the Hamptons Doc Fest. Running this week for its 18th year, the festival of documentaries was founded by Jacqui Lofaro and has become an essential part of the region’s arts scene every year. It’s a 12-month undertaking for Lofaro and her staff, and the result is always a tantalizing buffet of outstanding filmmaking, not to mention unforgettable stories. The arrival of the era of streaming services ...
10 Dec 2025 by Editorial Board
East Hampton’s housing shortage is real; the town can’t afford to ignore any potential long-term solutions. But the recent — and now scrapped — plan for a large employer-run complex on Three Mile Harbor Road raises too many questions that haven’t been fully answered. The proposal, put forward by Kirby Marcantonio and an unnamed partner, would have created 79 units of employer-controlled housing, comparable to a project he has pitched on Pantigo Road. To make it happen, the East Hampton Town Board would have had to allow the project to sidestep the town’s 60-unit limit on affordable developments, and rezone ...
by Editorial Board
Overlay districts are a common zoning tool used by many municipalities. Southampton Town has used them to varying degrees of success — the aquifer protection overlay district has been a winner; a downtown overlay district in Hampton Bays less so — in various parts of the town. They essentially look at the existing zoning, then allow those rules governing what can be done on properties to be reconsidered if there’s a newer concern to be addressed. In a bid to clean up the process for creating more affordable housing, the Town Board is looking at a new overlay district that ...
by Editorial Board
When it comes to evaluating a complex development proposal, splitting up the application into separate parts may seem tempting, especially when environmental uncertainties loom. But in the case of Adam Potter’s plan for 7 and 11 Bridge Street, the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board should resist any temptation to segment the project for review. Potter’s attorney has asked the board to consider the gas ball property at 5 Bridge Street — a site that could provide the 93 parking spaces required for Potter’s 48 residential units and commercial spaces nearby — separate from the main development. The reason is understandable: ...
by Editorial Board
The stories are almost commonplace: People seeing dumpsters full of old windows, doors and trim outside historic houses in Sag Harbor that are being renovated. On Tuesday, the Village Board adopted a proposal that it hopes will help put an end to that practice. It will require the owner of a historic house to complete a construction protocol and preservation plan before undertaking any major renovation. That document could be a few sentences or several pages long, depending on the type of work being considered. The amendment requires that the plan outlines “with specificity the detailed preservation, rehabilitation, restoration and/or ...
by Stephen J. Kotz
It’s back — the federal government’s push to expand offshore oil drilling. The waters off Long Island are not in the plan, as of now. As the recent headline in Newsday reported: “Plan for New Oil Drilling Off Fla. and Calif. Coasts.” The subhead on the Associated Press article: “States push back as Trump seeks to expand production.” The following day, November 22, Newsday ran a nationally syndicated cartoon by Paul Dukinsky depicting President Trump declaring in front of a line of offshore wind turbines: “Wind Turbines Ruin the View!” Then there was Trump in front of a bunch of ...
by Karl Grossman
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Stephen J. Kotz on Nov 18, 2025