It's About Time

Last week, Sag Harbor Village Mayor Jim Larocca doubled down on a campaign promise to make affordable housing a priority under his administration, tapping Trustees Bob Plumb and Ed Haye to co-chair a new Sag Harbor Affordable Housing Initiative.

And, frankly, it is about time someone did it.

Affordable housing on the South Fork, and certainly in Sag Harbor Village, has been at crisis levels for years, exacerbated by the region’s popularity and cost of living. Not only has the housing crisis made it difficult, if not impossible, for many longtime residents and their children to stay on the South Fork, but also it has impacted the ability of businesses to find employees. Some are forced to commute an hour or more each way; the resulting traffic jams make that a typical commute time even for some Southampton Town residents. This was an issue highlighted this summer season, as many popular eateries shuttered on what would otherwise be profitable days to do business in high season. The staff they had simply couldn’t keep up.

With volunteers making up most all of the emergency service providers, from ambulance companies to fire departments, those corps are often left looking for new members — an issue that will become quite expensive as departments are forced to become entirely paid to just get the job done.

While the towns have attempted to chip away at what often feels like an insurmountable issue to address, thanks to NIMBYism and the region’s complete rejection of any high-density housing projects, the villages have largely thrown their hands in the air, declaring their borders too small and their residents too land rich to provide opportunities to address the problem. At the same time, villages like Sag Harbor, built densely as a whaling port turned industrial community, have seen a number of multi-family residences renovated into spacious single-family homes, further reducing what would traditionally be more affordable housing.

But, of course, when the market has rooms renting for well over $1,000 to $2,000 monthly, unless apartments are funneled through housing programs, it is clear that even the small spaces have ceased to become affordable by nature.

Which is why it is even more critical that affordable housing becomes an issue that all municipalities, even our smallest, work collectively to address in a substantive way. Kudos to Mr. Larocca and the rest of the Village Board for taking these first important steps forward. Finding an answer isn’t easy, but you have to at least start the search.