Letters

I write to oppose the proposed development at 1205 Majors Path to build nearly 150 residential condominiums in a residential neighborhood in North Sea.

No one in the neighborhood wants this — no one. A recent Zoom meeting of the Southampton Town Planning Board attracted nearly 50 residents, all of whom oppose this plan.

The resulting spike in population, should this project be allowed, will forever change for the worse this single-family home residential area (already relatively densely populated). An increase of, at a minimum, 300 cars (not including guests) will make an already highly trafficked area into a traffic nightmare.

Already, twice a day, our local streets are clogged for hours by the “trade parade” and other vehicles (often loud trucks and service vehicles) using our local streets to avoid Noyac Road. A massive increase in population in the area will mean more cars, making this situation much worse.

The increased population in our neighborhood from this large increase in the number of residents also will result in an untenable increase in the amount of noise in the neighborhood, including an increased use of leaf blowers, lawn mowers, loud vehicles, increased service vehicles, loud parties, etc.

No current property owner in this area ever anticipated that such a project would be allowed by the town to forever change the quiet and peaceful nature of our neighborhood. The resulting negative and harmful impact on our property values cannot and should not be ignored.

The current nonconforming use of the property that has been allowed at 1025 Majors Path, as a waste collection site, cannot be replaced with a proposed different form of nonconforming use (nearly 150 condominiums). Instead, the property ought to be brought into compliance with current land use laws. Such conforming uses could include the purchase of the property by the Town of Southampton to remediate the impact of decades of illegal use as a waste collection site and conserve the land for posterity.

Since the town is already considering undertaking an overall strategy to responsibly plan the development of the Town of Southampton in the future, why not stop this unprecedented, radical, nonconforming development that would forever change this part of North Sea until a reasonable agreed-upon and sustainable overall town plan can be developed?

Whose needs are served by moving forward now? Is the Planning Board feeling compelled to serve the interests of out-of-town developers and not the citizens they are obliged to represent?

Cecilia L. Gardner, Esq.

North Sea