Letters

It’s hard to miss all the Letters to the Editor about the Town Board effectively crapping on Hampton Bays with an unwanted boutique hotel development, unwelcome overlay districts and the “BESS mess.”

I have to say, tongue in cheek, as a lifelong Flanders resident until recently, it’s interesting and a refreshing change to have another hamlet be the dumping ground for a while.

My dream and vision for the Town of Southampton, however, is one in which no one has to be the dumping ground. I believe that in one of the richest towns on Long Island, it is possible to be fair and equitable. I understand the town is full of NIMBYs, but I believe it possible to have balance in development proposals, fair distribution of affordable housing, and a budget in which resources are distributed equitably across the town, from its least wealthy, to its most dense, to its wealthiest.

You have Riverside, the most economically disadvantaged community in all of Long Island, begging to implement the overlay district approved eight years ago. You have a community that embraced environmentally sound density, and in eight years this administration couldn’t get it going.

There is hope that with the election of Maria Moore, with her experience in bringing a sewer district to Westhampton Beach Village, this development can get underway where the residents actually want it.

Also, my hope is that with a different captain at the helm, perhaps all of the advocacy in Hampton Bays will pay off and voices will be heard.

Ronald Fisher

Shinnecock Hills