Letters

The recent town survey is intended to help the town make “informed decisions” about the Hampton Bays Downtown Revitalization Plan [“Town of Southampton Releases Survey To Gauge Public Response to Proposed Hampton Bays Revitalization Plan,” 27east.com, February 13]. I don’t see how it really does that, but it doesn’t matter, because everyone knows surveys are manipulative, easily subject to interpretation and unreliable.

The question on affordable housing, for example, requires one to choose 10, 20 or 30 percent. It seems almost random, but if you don’t choose one of these seemingly random numbers, you can’t submit the survey. My answer is that affordable housing should be distributed fairly throughout the entire Town of Southampton. I don’t know what percent that is, and I don’t know how the town came up with 10, 20 or 30.

The town has been directing Historical Concepts’ work on Hampton Bays revitalization since 2016. Ultimately, in general, every iteration is pretty much the same. It’s not the fault of Historical Concepts, and I’m sure the town had its reasons for hiring this consultant, but the “revitalization plan” is more like a residential housing development, and even the Historical Concepts website mostly shows residential housing.

I am in favor of revitalization. My idea of a revitalization plan is one that (1) looks at the entire downtown and its adjacent and connected areas; (2) identifies a core or heart of Hampton Bays and builds on that, instead of lifting elements of Southampton Village and molding them to fit one designated property; (3) provides alternatives; (4) provides stages of development; and (5) responds directly to the articulated problems.

Some say Good Ground Park is underused and that the pedestrian entrance is not visible. It’s not necessary to create a new vehicular access to the park to resolve these issues. The town could more easily erect some signage and redesign the existing entrance to open it up and to allow a view into the park.

If we want a walkable town, is it necessary to create a maze of new streets? Maybe it would be more walkable if we pushed the county for additional crosswalks.

I’m not a planner or designer, but I could come up with feasible ideas. Imagine what an urban planner or expert in big-picture revitalization with economic expertise could come up with for Hampton Bays if it were free from the town’s myopic and predetermined approach.

Eight years, and here we are with an arguably useless survey designed to “help the town make informed decisions.” It’s time for a new approach. Let’s see a real revitalization plan.

Mary Pazan

Hampton Bays