Letters

In February 2025, with few around, a 48-unit Hill Street development was approved by a 4-1 vote of the Southampton Village Board. Bill Manger and three trustees supported the project. Trustee Ed Simioni voted no, citing concerns about traffic and the lack of guaranteed workforce housing.

Notably, during the hearing, Manger claimed the project would “actually decrease traffic,” citing an extensive “traffic study” that he and John Bennett, the developer’s attorney, insist is public. If that’s true, where is it? Manger should release the full study and show residents what he relied on before approving 48 units at one of the village’s busiest intersections.

The Southampton Association noted that a prior traffic study did not consider “the actual increase in traffic from a ‘theoretical’ commercial use, which incorrectly estimates current traffic volumes, to a 40-plus-room hotel use.” The association urged the board to require 12 workforce units. This project includes eight.

Bennett and Manger reference a 2021 resolution that I voted for during the COVID period to suggest that I supported this specific project. That version was different and never passed through the village’s regulatory boards.

Some former members of those boards raised serious objections, including that the plan conflicts with the 2022 Comprehensive Master Plan (which didn’t exist then) and amounted to “spot zoning.” According to the Department of State, spot zoning is when a single parcel is granted special treatment not afforded to neighboring properties. No legal spin changes that.

Manger also voted to demolish the Hill Street clock tower. Mr. Bennett called it “faux historic.” While it’s not designated as a historic structure, it has communal value. Yet no survey or public discussion was held before demolition approval — just another example of decisions made quietly, during the offseason, with limited public input.

But the biggest missed opportunity was the board’s decision to approve a plan that included a private sewage treatment plant solely for the new development, without any effort to extend that infrastructure to nearby commercial properties.

The movie theater and other businesses on Hill Street could have benefited from sewer access. Instead, the board approved a siloed plan that served a single project, rather than thinking comprehensively about the long-term needs of the business district.

Residents deserve transparency, not attacks for providing information or asking questions. If you’d like a copy of my newsletter, feel free to reach out.

Jesse Warren

Southampton Village

Warren is a former mayor of the Village of Southampton — Ed.