Potter Defends His Development Proposal in First Appearance Before Sag Harbor Planning Board

Adam Potter, whose most recent plans to develop a 1.4-acre site off Bridge and Rose streets were unveiled to the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board on December 20, defended himself against what he said were personal attacks and misinformation being spread by opponents of his proposal.

Potter said he was committed to providing much needed affordable housing for the village, remediating contaminated soil and preventing flooding from his project.

“The opposition, including Save Sag Harbor, continues to vilify me and personally attack me for doing what I think is needed in this village,” he told the board during a lengthy statement that came toward the end of a 90-minute presubmission conference and hearing.

“If you want to talk intelligently, if you want to have a debate about the project, I’m willing to do that,” he said. “But stop the personal attacks.”

Potter has filed revised plans for the site under the name 11 Bridge Street LLC that call for the construction of a new 61,314-square-foot, three-story building that would have a total of 39 apartments — 19 of which would be earmarked as affordable — on the top two floors, and 14,516 square feet of commercial space and 14,568 square feet of parking on the ground floor, according to a review of the plans by the village’s environmental consultants, Nelson Pope Voorhis.

The 7,794-square-foot building now occupied by Collette Consignment would remain, and Potter has proposed using the neighboring gas ball parking lot, for which he holds a lease, to provide 93 spaces for his development.

According to the Nelson Pope Voorhis report, the project will require a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals to allow a mixed-use building in the office district zone, where they are typically prohibited, and several other variances, including one that would let him build to three stories, where only two are allowed, and another for 39 apartments, where only 27 are allowed.

The development also will need to be approved by the Planning Board and the Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review.

Responding to concerns raised by some of the approximately 30 people who attended the hearing that there was no way of knowing if the 19 apartments proposed as affordable would remain that way, Potter said, “It’s regulated, 100 percent. There will be an easement over those 19 units. They will be in perpetuity, and there is only so much that is allowed to be charged for those.”

He added that it was his goal to not accept any sort of state funding for the apartments, so that he would retain maximum flexibility to rent them to teachers, first responders and others who already live in Sag Harbor.

Potter also addressed the contamination at the site, where, he said, the water has an orange tint.

“There are dozens and dozens of compounds in the water and the soil that exceed the DEC’s standards,” he said. “This needs to be cleaned up. We have the plan, and we have the funding, unlike other people have suggested, to clean up this land.”

In order to remediate the site, he said, it will be necessary to remove several buildings listed as contributing structures to the village’s historic district.

“We have a choice,” he said. “What is more important? Three or four structures … or cleaning up the land and the water for all of Sag Harbor?” He said he would pay to have the buildings relocated off-site, if there were any takers.

Potter said that, despite fears raised by some, it is, in fact, possible to build safely in a flood zone. He pointed out that many of the same people who oppose his project were enthusiastic supporters of the effort to rebuild the Sag Harbor Cinema after it was badly damaged by fire in December 2016. “What we are proposing is extensive flood mitigation,” he said.

Potter also said he was the victim of NIMBYism. “Everyone talks about affordable housing,” he said. “Yet no one has proposed anything or done anything about it in this village.”

“I have addressed all of the concerns of the people opposing the project. I have addressed parking. I have addressed the size. I have addressed the number of units. And I’ll do more,” he said. “If they don’t like the architecture, I don’t care. I’ll do whatever anyone wants me to do so we can build affordable housing in Sag Harbor.”

Before Potter’s statement, more than a dozen people spoke on both sides of the issue.

“The reason I came to Sag Harbor was the charm of the village, the scale of the village, the unique character of the village,” said Peter Acocella of Hampton Street. “I’m afraid that doesn’t have anything to do with what I’m looking at here.”

Acocella said traffic congestion in the heart of the village was already “untenable,” and he questioned whether the affordable apartments would truly be affordable for local residents.

Acocella was the first of several speakers to cite the need for the village to complete a comprehensive plan first. “It is premature to be considering something like this,” he said of Potter’s application.

Nancy Achenbach, the president of the Sag Harbor Historical Museum, called for the preservation of the historic buildings on the site and for the village to complete a comprehensive plan. “This place is moving too fast,” she said of the village.

“I live in the Village of Sag Harbor,” said Paula Raflo, a resident of the neighboring Harbor Close condominiums. “You are turning it into the city of Sag Harbor.”

She described the architectural plans as “a monstrosity” and said new commercial space would bring in unneeded competition for locally owned shops. She also questioned how affordable the apartments would be.

Douglas Newby urged the Planning Board not to proceed with major development proposals requiring variances until a comprehensive plan is completed. But Chairman John Shaka said it was obligated to review any application submitted to it.

Newby raised questions about parking and whether the village’s sewage treatment plant could handle the demands of the property. He suggested that the construction of a large building on the site would only add to the flooding woes in the area.

“This project would fundamentally change the nature of our village,” Kathryn Levy said. “It is effectively a suburban-looking shopping center, and I believe it would very much contribute to increased traffic and parking problems.”

Levy, who urged the board to require an environmental impact statement, cited two major concerns, the first being environmental mitigation of the site.

“I’m terrified that if this private applicant undertakes remediation, he may find that he cannot complete it,” she said, “and we may have a disaster in the middle of the village, and the village tied up for years in the opening of the ground with toxic materials that can’t be easily remediated.”

She also cited climate change and the prospect of more severe storms increasing the possibility of flooding. “The things Mr. Potter is proposing to do to mitigate flooding are wholly inadequate for what goes on now,” she said, “and certainly is going to be wholly inadequate for what goes on in the future.”

A number of people spoke in favor of Potter’s plan as well.

Lisa Field, owner of the Sag Harbor Variety Store, who cited Potter’s offer of much needed affordable housing, said she was taken aback by what she described as the Planning Board’s negative reaction to the application.

“I know this is preliminary, but there doesn’t seem to be one positive comment from the board,” she said. “Let’s try to see what’s right about it.”

Board members had asked about parking, flooding, sewage connections and other issues. Shaka said the intent was not to be negative but to address the possible hurdles the application faces.

Others, including some with business ties to Potter, also spoke in favor of the application. Among them were Antonio Todaro, who manages the Harbor Shop convenience store that replaced the 7-Eleven, and Sean Edison, the owner of a hair salon in one of the buildings Potter owns on Rose Street.

Both said the proposal would provide much needed affordable housing to the village, which would help local businesses.

Susan Yungbluth, who lived in one of the buildings on the site, praised Potter for being a good landlord and said his plans would provide much needed flood mitigation to the area.

Hal Zwick, a commercial real estate broker who has represented Potter, said the development would provide much needed commercial space for locally owned service businesses.

“What’s happened over the last five or 10 years, as new retailers have moved in, they have priced out the mom-and-pop shops,” he said. The Potter development would provide less expensive options, much as Hampton Road and Hill Street do in Southampton and Park Place does in East Hampton, he told the board.

Jeff Sztorc, who works with Zwick, agreed that the commercial spaces would not compete with Main Street. He said all of the apartments, including those rented at market rates, would be valuable for the village, because businesses such as restaurants that need large staffs would pay the asking price to provide housing for their employees. Plus, he added, as the local population ages, more residents will give up their homes and look for apartments to rent.

The board closed the hearing, and agreed to accept written comments for 10 days. Kathryn Eiseman of NPV will submit a report on the application to the Planning Board in the coming weeks.