Shippy's Restaurant Will Expand, and Install New Sanitary System After Approval of Easement From Village

After 10 months in business, John Betts, the owner of Shippy’s Restaurant at the south end of Windmill Lane in Southampton Village, has an enviable problem: His business is doing so well he needs to expand.

Plans are in the works to fully enclose what has been a seasonal beer garden space at the back end of the restaurant, that would allow Shippy’s to seat even more customers on a year-round basis, and also to relocate the bathrooms to create better flow inside the restaurant.

The plans would essentially double the size of the space and enclose the entire lot, which isn’t currently fully utilized.

In order to bring those plans to fruition, however, Betts must install a new up-to-date sanitary system, which will require an easement from Southampton Village, since the newer systems, which take up more physical space, will need to extend into an area that’s part of the village right of way.

The Southampton Village Board unanimously approved the easement request during its latest work session on April 23, allowing the plans for “Shippy’s 2.0,” as Betts called it, to proceed.

Shippy’s has agreed to pay all costs associated with the installation of the new system, including securing a performance bond for the project and carrying insurance, which will also 
have the village named as an insured party. Shippy’s has also agreed to maintain the easement area.

Betts said earlier this week that Shippy’s in fact already has an easement from the village that was approved years ago, and the resolution that was approved at the work session was, in essence, an expansion of that easement. The final physical parameters of the easement will be determined once Shippy’s goes through the approval process for the sanitary system with the Suffolk County Department of Health.

Betts, who grew up in North Sea, purchased Shippy’s last June from former owner Nick Nielsen, who ran the restaurant for years after taking the helm from his father, Ed Nielsen. The elder Nielsen purchased the restaurant from its namesake, William “Shippy” Casgrain, who first opened the doors for business in 1954.

Mayor Bill Manger said earlier this week that is has been common procedure over the years — dating back even to his first time serving as a trustee, back in 2000 — to grant easements to village businesses for the installation of sanitary systems because the village does not have a sewer system, a large project it has been trying to bring to fruition for years and which could soon be on the horizon.

Shippy’s received approval for its expansion plans from the Southampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals last week, Betts said, and is still in the process of securing approval from the Planning Board. Betts said they will need to work with the village board of Architectural and Historic Preservation as well, but that he expected to start work on the project before the summer begins.

The restaurant’s beer garden, which currently is only available for use during warmer months, will be fully enclosed with a glass and metal structure with a retractable roof.

“It will be unique and really give us seating in the beer garden all year long, with a small bar in back,” Betts said.

Betts said that in addition to covering the cost of installing the new system, the bond was part of the deal “to ensure that we put everything back in the same condition we started with.”

“We will replace the green space, and fix that up,” he said. “It will be better than ever, and we’ll have the most modern system out there. My hope is that before the end of the year, everything will be operational and we’ll be able to provide a much better experience.”