Sag Harbor Village Board Approves Scaled Back Paid Parking Proposal

The Sag Harbor Village Board on Tuesday approved a measure that will bring paid parking to two parking lots, the gas ball lot at 5 Bridge Street, which the village is leasing from developer Adam Potter, and the lot at 51 Meadow Street, which is just south of the Sag Harbor Post Office.

Before and after adopting the measure, which was drastically scaled back from a proposal first aired in April, board members reassured the audience that the new parking regulations are a work in progress subject to further revision.

The board listened to concerns from Ellen Dioguardi, the president of the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce, Michael Schiavoni, the owner of Schiavoni’s Market, and Nada Barry, an owner of The Wharf Shop.

Dioguardi said she was relieved to hear that the village was exploring agreements that would allow employees to park in Sag Harbor School District parking lots as well as the St. Andrew Catholic Church lot and be shuttled back and forth to the business district for free.

But Schiavoni, who said if the village had to have paid parking, it should require it across the board, said his employees are his “most valuable asset” and many of them already struggle to get to work on time because they get caught in the trade parade. He suggested the remote parking be reserved for tourists and the gas ball parking lot left for residents and employees.

Barry asked if those with handicap stickers would be exempt from the fees, and was told they would not be, although residents of the village would be. She also sought assurance that seasonal paid parking would end in mid-October so as not to interfere with the holiday shopping season.

The village will contract with ParkMobile for the cellphone app service. The first hour of parking will be free, with second and third hours costing $4, the fourth hour $6, and the fifth hour $8. Village residents and volunteers will be exempt. The seasonal program will be in place from May 1 until October 15. It will be rolled out this year, once the village places signs and makes sure Wi-Fi is in place.

The board also listened to comments on a proposal that would amend the rental registry law it adopted last winter to make it legal to rent up to three bedrooms in an owner-occupied home, which had inadvertently been rendered illegal in the original registry law.

Board members said they were trying to allow for the creation of affordable housing as well as help homeowners remain in their homes by allowing them to collect extra income.

For starters, the number of permits will be limited to 50, and those who live in their own homes will have to meet the same safety standards that were put in place in the original registry law.

A handful of people spoke on the measure with Karen Price asking how the board would limit the number of people in each bedroom. Board members said the village law would have to meet state fire standards, which limit occupancy to the size of a room.

The proposed law must still be reviewed by the board’s environmental consultant, Nelson Pope Voorhis, leading the board to table the measure until next month.

Mary Ann Eddy, a member of the Harbor Committee, who is running for Village Board, quizzed Trustee Jeanne Kane about a large tree at a house at 11 Meadowlark Lane, which was recently chopped down, despite a village law, adopted earlier this year, which requires the building inspector to sign off on the removal of trees that are greater than 12 inches in diameter at breast height.

Kane said the Building Department had been notified that the tree had been removed and was investigating the matter, but Eddy pressed her, asking if the homeowner was fined or punished in any way. She urged the board to publicize the matter to prevent future occurrences.

Peconic Baykeeper Peter Topping appeared before the board to seek its support for Project RISE, which involves placing posts with a small sign and a cradle for a cellphone at various harbors, bays and wetlands to encourage people to take photographs of the scene and upload the photos to a website. The goal is to create a timeline, using all the photos that are received, which presumably will show the transformation of different sites caused by climate change. Board members said they would likely approve Topping’s request to place one of the setups at the edge of Windmill Beach.

The board announced that it had received a letter from the Amato Law Group on behalf of Verizon Wireless formally withdrawing an application to build a cell tower on the property of WLNG radio on Redwood Road. Neighbors had opposed the construction of the tower, and the application has been on hold for at least two years.