Letters

Save Sag Harbor is the only community-supported, not-for-profit organization to advocate for the protection of our vibrant and independent Main Street and the historic designation, character, scale, and quality of life of our village.

After careful consideration, we believe that the Waterfront Overlay Form Based Code is an instrument intended to protect the historic village, its surrounding community and its ecosystems from the dangers of overdevelopment — and is therefore aligned with the principles that form the core of our mission.

Save Sag Harbor supports the proposed code change, with the following qualifications:

Office District: We support no changes to the current code regarding the Office District, except in instances that would involve the relocation of businesses displaced by real estate transactions within the Waterfront Overlay District, or in instances involving the introduction of services that would meet the quality-of-life needs of its year-round residents. An expansion of retail uses in the Office District, as proposed, would hamper the establishment and sustainability of essential businesses by forcing them to compete with tenants able to pay above-market rents.

Parking: The existing provisions have been an effective tool in guarding against over-development, albeit a cumbersome one in need of improvement. We are open to testing some form of “payment in lieu” plan, where payments are earmarked to fund a comprehensive parking study. But until we have additional information from such a study, we oppose wholesale changes to property developers’ parking obligations.

Ferries: We oppose any provision that designates a passenger ferry or water taxi as permissible or exempt from restriction.

We also suggest that the village explore its eligibility for applicable state and federal grants that can be used to underwrite a comprehensive study of water and surface transit programs, and that also might be used to fund a parking study.

Strong enforcement is vital. We urge caution and diligence in getting any change to the code right, and in the proper interpretation and execution of the code once it has been adopted.

Sag Harbor is a community, not an opportunity. We would respectfully ask the committee and the village’s boards to use our mission as their touchstone as well, and to remember that we are all temporary stewards of a historic national treasure. We have not been elected or appointed to reinvent Sag Harbor, but to protect and to manage it responsibly and openly.

Finally, we know that this has been an enormous effort by our mayor, the Board of Trustees, and the Waterfront Overlay Form Based Code Committee and consultants, and we want to take this opportunity to thank you for taking this on and for encouraging consensus, transparency and community-building in these important discussions about Sag Harbor’s future.

Hilary Loomis

Bob Weinstein

Save Sag Harbor

The letter also was signed by Save Sag Harbor board members Barbara Roberts, Tom Clavin, Randolph Croxton, Myrna Davis, Sara Gage, Elizabeth Gilbert, Peter Ginna, and Hilary Thayer Hamann — Ed.