Letters

I read with interest Wendy Moonan’s letter and critique relative to the proposed Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor [“Clueless Design,” Letters, May 20]. Her list of accomplishments and her resume, as they pertain to architectural design, are quite impressive. However, her use and application of current architectural jargon, less so.

I question her repeated touting (five times) of “small-town urbanism” as the be-all-end-all relative to the desired look needed in the design of the theater and in the village itself.

I am okay with “small town” — it’s the “urbanism” part I have a problem with. Urbanism utilized as a design style on eastern Long Island is a horrible idea. Personally, I am repulsed by anyone with grand plans to destroy the look and feel of the East End, whether it be destruction to our Pine Barrens by out-of-towners or the ruination of picturesque estates and inns accomplished by shoehorning condos on top of each other, rendering a beautiful part of Southampton Village reminiscent of a cross street on the west side of Manhattan.

I prefer the terms “seashore” and “beach community” or “seaside village” to the small-town urbanism espoused. The writer refers to mid-19th century Sag Harbor as model of successful “urbanism”; I prefer the term “whaling village.” This is the first time “urbanism” has made its way into the public lexicon relative to the future of the East End. I hope it is the last.

The changes we see on the East End must be carefully monitored by us, the residents. Government officials have lost sight of that which makes our home globally unique: miles of beaches and pine forests and farm fields coupled with mostly well-thought-out design and, yes, limitations. They pay more attention to political favors and retribution and campaign contributions than they do to natural beauty we see before us.

The inevitability of development is a mantra I have heard at many local meetings. That thinking will ruin the beauty of our area. Yet, elected officials and politically appointed zoning and planning boards seem to think otherwise.

Calling the proposed theater a “suburban solution” seems to suggest that it’s better to bypass the suburban part and go directly to this urbanism thing. I maintain that we already have, that development of the East End has taken on an urban/industrial look, to its long-term detriment.

The influx of full-time residents and the growth in home construction in the past year was largely due to the haunting presence of the global pandemic, without a doubt.

It also was caused by the desire of our newly arrived neighbors to finally remove themselves from that which the writer emphatically endorses: urbanism.

William R. Kearns

East Quogue