Letters

Sadly, I find evidence of Jay Schneiderman’s duplicity. Is he listening to the people?

I signed up for the small group meeting held on November 10. We were given, finally, some visuals on as-of-right development with current zoning and a walk-through 3D video simulation of Main Street as it now is. He said it looked better than he imagined without all the clutter of wires. We could all see the “mishmash” of development types, especially on the south side of Montauk Highway.

What Jay Schneiderman suggested over and over was, in fact, exactly what Alfred Caiola planned [“Q&A: Alfred Caiola Discusses His Vision for Hampton Bays and Its Downtown,” 27east.com, December 2]: a U formed by a road back to the park, then a road west to an exit road, which I think would be the property that the chamber building sat on.

People objected to any direct connection from Montauk Highway through the park to Squiretown Road because of the probable use of such a road as a thoroughfare for the trade parade.

At the close of the meeting, the agreed steps were first to simply clean up the streetscape along Montauk Highway, then to build a road, probably at town expense, back to the park — exactly as Mr. Caiola planned. The rest of the U was shown over and over again but theoretically set aside.

The town and Mr. Caiola had and still have a plan. If I am correct about that west road, the town destroyed something they were meant to preserve to further that plan.

I do not see how the plan would uplift the entire town. Or solve its traffic woes. I agree that we are the housing for labor that goes east, and afflicted with ridiculous school taxes, but how much building and new business do they think it would take to balance that equation? Someone ought to have some numbers on that.

I don’t know the legalities, but I suspect that redistricting is the only real answer there. Combine smaller districts into several or one large taxing district. If I understand what I was told by an acquaintance, children who live in Riverside and Flanders, residents of Southampton Town, end up in school in Riverhead? How? Why? How is that paid for?

Our school taxes became ridiculous because there was no viable opposition. Second-home owners and seasonal rental operators can’t vote. That puts 20 percent or more of the property owners out.

Frederick County, Maryland, has 41,000 students; the superintendent in Hampton Bays is paid about the same amount for managing under 2,000 students. New York State had to force a limit on school tax increases …

The entire funding system perplexes me, as does the constant complaint about the number of students.

Amy Paradise

Hampton Bays