Owner Says Bridgehampton's Small Potato Tree Stand Will Close

After two decades of being in business, Elizabeth Linker is preparing to close the Small Potato farm stand in Bridgehampton this year, where many people have made it a tradition to buy their Christmas trees.Ms. Linker had hoped to turn the tree stand into a retirement business and had even drafted plans several years ago to fix it up and expand it.Those plans were stymied this year when the Hampton Classic Organization—which for 20 years had subleased the property adjacent to the stand to Ms. Linker, who stored the trees there—instead offered a free, three-year lease to the Bridgehampton School.The property on which the stand itself sits, adjacent to the Bridgehampton School, is owned by the Babinski family, with whom Ms. Linker had a separate agreement for 20 years. She used both properties, which total about 1 acre, to run her Christmas tree business.“I won’t be able to continue without the Hampton Classic’s side,” Ms. Linker said last week, insisting that only one of the properties would not be large enough. “Because I don’t have both sides, I won’t be able to continue unless the Hampton Classic changes their mind or the school decides that they don’t want that property,” she said.Two teachers had pitched a new educational program to the Bridgehampton School Board in December that would involve using both properties. They were under the impression that they were a single property entirely managed by the Hampton Classic, which rents its portion from the Flannery family. Called the Career and Technical Education Program, the initiative would provide an alternative track for students, preparing them to enter the workforce immediately or go on to college.The idea was to turn the tree stand into a school store, also growing crops on the property. Using many resources the school already has, such as classes in accounting and botany, students would take courses specifically tailored to making the farm stand a model workplace.“So now we are dealing with the misunderstanding and trying to iron it all out," said Judiann Carmack-Fayyaz, one of the teachers spearheading the new program, which she said would go forward nonetheless as long as it is approved by the state. Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz said if the school wished to use the Babinskis property, they would need to raise money for it, as the Babinskis would not just donate it rent-free—she would not say how much the Babinskis would charge.“The issue for us is that it is a little complicated for the school to be renting out a parcel of land, especially in light [of the fact that] it is going to be a very tight budget year," she said, "and with the tax cap kicking in, it would be hard to turn around and justify this new expenditure.” The teacher noted, however, that there are community members who might donate money to rent the Babinskis' land.Meanwhile, the school has not yet signed an agreement with the Hampton Classic either, according to School Superintendent Dr. Lois Favre.“The Classic has always known they don’t own the farm stand, and it was never their intention to hurt me in any way or form,” Ms. Linker said, adding that the organization is even waiving her rent balance—she would not say what her rent is—for 2015. Small Potato was open only 45 days in each of the past 20 years. The business would just barely break even, as Ms. Linker had to pay rent to both property owners and pay her staff, she said. She also donated $10 per tree to the Our Lady of the Hamptons school in Southampton, which her son Bryce attends.According to the Classic's executive director, Shanette Barth Cohen, Southampton Town required, for tax purposes, that the Flannery property be planted, so Ms. Linker grew sunflowers on both properties. But “the sunflowers didn’t work,” Ms. Cohen said.When officials involved with the Classic began to think about other options, they decided that the school would be a perfect choice, as the property could be used as an extension of the school’s garden project—it already has a 1,000-square-foot greenhouse and garden that function as an outdoor classroom—which would continue to fulfill the tax requirement.“I feel they are only doing this because the town is making them plant the half an acre,” Ms. Linker said. “But I have done Small Potato, I created Small Potato, and I did it for the love of the Hamptons.”Ms. Linker said she spent about $30,000 each year, including her rent, to keep the stand going. It only broke even, but the tree-buying tradition was important to families, and she loved the business, Ms. Linker said.“I think Small Potato will be very, very missed. If everybody reaches out to the Hampton Classic and says, ‘We love this property, we love this business,’ then maybe they will change their mind,” she said.“I’d like to buy both sides from the family and continue that tradition that hundreds of thousands of people have made that their family tradition,” Ms. Linker said. “I don’t really think people understand how much of a gem that is.”Ms. Linker said she would have sold her other businesses—Hedges and Gardens, and the Irony, both based in East Hampton—and, within the next 10 years, redesigned Small Potato to turn it into a full-time business with a florist and a nursery that would have included both parcels.“That was my dream and that has been my dream for 20 years," she said.“It would take us weeks to get Small Potato ready, and we were only doing it to sell Christmas trees," she said. "To actually grow flowers and sell flowers, and grow vegetables and sell them, well, the school can’t without the Babinskis, and the building needs a lot of work."“It should be very interesting to see how this shakes out, because it would be such a great opportunity, such a great location," Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz said. “It just seems like a natural evolution—not that we want to take anybody’s dreams away or create problems, because this should be an incredible thing and not a bad thing in any shape, way or form.”