Letters

It is unfortunate that the Liberty Gardens developers continue to misrepresent their project to our community.

In the article from the September 21 issue of The Press [“County Road 39 Housing Proposal Developers Release Environmental Impact Statement,” 27east.com, September 20], the statement is made that the project will now include a split between affordable housing and housing for veterans. This is not a change. The project has always been affordable — it’s just that none of the units have or will be reserved for Southampton residents, workers, volunteers or retirees.

The funding the developers receive from New York State and federal agencies comes with strings (actually, chains) attached. They must provide preference to those applicants requiring “supportive services.” Furthermore, their business model is to have a population of residents requiring recurring rehabilitation, counseling and support services, an important source of revenue for Concern for Independent Living and its partners. It makes for a very profitable not-for-profit.

The statement, which was printed unchallenged, that the local opposition “is not in great numbers” is not at all true. At the last public hearing in October 2022, members of the Southampton Village Board, the Group for the East End, the Southampton Association and the Southampton/Shinnecock/Tuckahoe Citizens Advisory Committee, along with representatives from the Hillcrest and Seasons neighborhoods and dozens of residents of the Southampton community spoke against this ill-conceived and ill-planned development. Opposition is, in fact, widespread.

It is disappointing that The Press did not report on myriad issues that remain unresolved. Traffic safety and a left turn exit onto County Road 39 from the facility, millions of gallons of sewage and the proximity to the village’s water supply, future development on the remaining site (and across the street), and the potential overload to our local emergency and police services are just a few of the major problems that this project will generate. Neither The Press nor our Town Council should allow that to happen. This is the wrong project at the wrong site.

We need workforce housing in Southampton and not a dense 50-unit development that will not have even one unit set aside for village or town employees. It is time that we all stand up and look out for our doctors and nurses and teachers and landscapers and police officers and retail employees, and everyone else who works to make Southampton run, who are consistently being shut out of true affordable workforce housing here, and yet are an essential part of our community. We are all one.

Walter Deane

Southampton