An update on proposed changes to the Sag Harbor Village code evolved on Sunday into a discussion about how the village’s businesses can best market themselves, during Save Sag Harbor’s community meeting at the Old Whalers Church.

Save Sag Harbor, which has organized a campaign urging residents and visitors to “Shop Locally” and has also brought representatives from the National Trust here to talk about opportunities to make the village more appealing for visitors, has been following the village’s development of its code revisions, with an eye toward protecting the Main Street character.

The code is preparing to go into a State Environmental Quality Review, attorney Jeff Bragman told the 40 or so members of the community who attended the meeting. Bragman has been hired by Save Sag Harbor to review the code for its membership.

Bragman was generally bullish on the code, saying it had the “look, feel and structure” of a modern planning document.

“I think it’s important that this revision go through,” Bragman said. “This village has a history of cronyism and poor environmental review. This is a dramatic step forward.”

The proposed revisions, however, have suffered some criticism, notably from the Sag Harbor Business Association, which has said the changes will create too restrictive an environment and will limit what property owners can do with their commercial buildings.

“I know there’s a lot of talk about the economy, but that is not a rational cause for not accepting the code,” said Bragman. “Zoning is the bedrock of this village. It is charming, it is preserved, it is one of the last real Main Streets on the East End.”

The changes, Bragman maintained, will in fact enhance people’s interest in investing in the village.

Renee Shafransky asked if there could be legislation that would prevent big corporate stores from coming into the village.

“It’s tricky,” conceded Bragman. The safer way would be to include certain prohibitions that would be the same for all business types, designing some of those to address what is harmful about formula stores.

“Can you enumerate what you don’t like in formula stores and weave that into the legislation,” observed Bragman. “The new code as it is written has defensible language that restricts signage, for example.”

Michael Eicke, a member of the Business Association, was critical of the efforts SSH has made in reaching out to the business community.

“I’m concerned that you never really contacted us, the business people,” said Eicke. “I thought you would have gone shop to shop asking them what their idea of the future is.”

“We met with many businesses and the Business Association several times,” countered SSG board member Susan Mead.

“We did bring in the National Trust, which was meant as a bold step forward, to get the community to think in a big way what can be done,” said SSH board member Jayne Young. “I personally visited half the stores on Main Street.”

Frank D’Angelo, owner of Emporium Hardware, noted that when the group urges residents to “Shop Locally,” they are preaching to the converted. He agreed that some of the businesses could use “a little help” and questioned the code’s restriction requiring stores be less than 8,000 square feet.

“That’s a lot of building in Sag Harbor,” observed Bragman.

“No it’s not,” urged D’Angelo, who said the building that currently houses 7-Eleven and other stores could become an anchor grocery store that would attract people to the village consistently.

“There are a lot of people who do their shopping out of the area,” said D’Angelo.

SSH President Mia Grosjean said the group is making an effort to communicate with the business community and that they are willing to help coordinate marketing ideas for the village to get customers to Main Street now.

To that end, Mead suggested her group contact the approximately 1700 people in their email list to find a marketing expert who could work with Save Sag Harbor and the business community, to promote the idea of the value of shopping in Sag Harbor.

“Part of it is perception,” observed SSH board member April Gornik. “There are a lot of wealthy people but this is truly a very diverse business community. The perception in America is that if you don’t get your stuff at Wal-Mart you’re getting ripped off.”

At top, attorney Jeff Bragman encourages members of Save Sag Harbor to support revisions to the village’s zoning code.

The Sag Harbor Village Board of Trustees extended a commercial moratorium in the village another six months on Wednesday, November 12, although according to trustee Tiffany Scarlato, this is the last time the board expects it will need to extend the moratorium, as it hopes to adopt a new zoning code before June.

The moratorium has been in place since June of 2007, and now legally can continue through June 2009. It was put in place as the village began discussing rewriting its zoning code, which had not been updated since the early 1980s.

“We have a zoning code we believe will be the one scheduled for public hearing,” said Scarlato last Wednesday. “I am anticipating, certainly by the end of 180 days, we will have that completed.”

“Hopefully sooner rather than later,” said trustee Brian Gilbride.

The new code, drafted by Sag Harbor Village Attorney Anthony Tohill and village environmental planning consultant Richard Warren has been met with both support and criticism since it was unveiled in the beginning of May. Preliminary recommendations for the draft code were presented in the fall of 2007.

Many members of the business community have expressed concerns that the new code may have been too restrictive, while other organizations have supported the re-write, which was conceived to protect the historic character of the commercial district, and maintain the diversity of uses that currently exist.

The draft code — which suggests shrinking the village business district to encompass primarily Main and Bay streets, creates an office district surrounding the core commercial district, restricts size of stores and addresses some affordable housing initiatives on its very surface — went through a number of revisions since May during a series of public meetings. But according to Scarlato, it is unlikely any more large revisions will be made to the code.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Mia Grosjean, president of Save Sag Harbor — a community organization that formed over concerns about over-development in the village and the threat of an influx of chain stores — spoke, asking the code be approved “as soon as possible.”

She also gave the board draft language out of Southold that she says might more adequately deal with the concern Save Sag Harbor members have over the possibility of chains like CVS or Ralph Lauren setting up shop on Sag Harbor’s mom and pop Main Street.

“We have had a lot of dialogue about the new code and I think it has been very effective,” said Sag Harbor Business Association member Jeff Sander, wondering if there would be more review of the code and a required environmental review.

Ferraris explained that the board is expecting to receive an environmental impact statement by December, after which public hearings on the impact statement, the draft code and the comprehensive plan will be held.

In other news, for the second meeting in a row, Gilbride faced off against a representative from Maran Corporate Risk Insurance Associates. Steve Maietta approached the board trying to understand why Gilbride would ask the board to change the village’s insurance broker, abandoning its contract with Maran in favor of using Jeffrey Brown of Dayton Ritz and Osborne Insurance. Last month, at Gilbride’s urging, the board adopted a resolution making the change with mayor Greg Ferraris and trustee Ed Deyermond abstaining on the change.

Maietta told the board last Wednesday that he had submitted a proposal to Gilbride — a proposal he says shows that the change to Dayton Ritz and Osborne saves the village virtually no money.

Gilbride began by saying he had not seen the proposal until the evening of the village board meeting, but Maietta countered that he had a discussion with Gilbride earlier in the week when the trustee admitted he had the document, but did not want to open it. Maietta continued to maintain making the switch would save the village no money and therefore wondered why Gilbride would ask for the change.

Gilbride countered the switch would save the village $1,000, although Maietta disagreed with the figure.

As the board adopted the resolution last month, Dayton Ritz and Osborne is already officially the village’s insurance broker. The change in no way affects the village’s insurance or the cost for insurance.

The clock is ticking for the Sag Harbor Planning Board as they attempt to craft a list of potential impacts that need to be hashed out as a proposed condominium project at 1, 3 and 5 Ferry Road begins what is likely to be a lengthy environmental review.

On Thursday, October 16 at 6:30 p.m. the planning board will meet in a work session to hammer out a final list of issues they would like to see explored in the review of the proposed 18-unit condo project, which also is designed to include 18-accessory boat slips on one of the last vacant parcels of Sag Harbor’s waterfront.

On Tuesday, September 23, throngs of Sag Harbor residents, as well as residents from surrounding neighborhoods packed the Municipal Building to discuss potential impacts they see with the planned 43,040 square foot luxury development. The scale of the project and its impact on waterfront vistas, insuring public access to adjacent waterfront and protection of natural resources are among the issues already raised. Village environmental planning consultant Richard Warren had also provided the board with a laundry list of concerns he felt should be explored. The planning board’s task will now be to meld Warren’s suggestions, along with resident concerns, into an inventory of issues the applicant, East End Ventures, must publicly vet.

The Ferry Road project, as it has come to be known, has been in the pipeline for two years now, in several incarnations. Public opposition to the development emerged last year, as a discussion about important waterfront vistas and public access to the waterfront emerged as a central theme in the Ferry Road debate.

Architecturally, several plans have been developed for the project by at least three groups of designers; although according to project manager Mark D’Andrea a Sag Harbor architect has been hired by the firm to redesign the building again. Plans, however, have yet to be submitted to the board.

Regardless, the board is on a strict deadline for the submission of its list of issues to the applicant. The board must have a formal submission made by November 4 and will take next Thursday’s meeting to hash out what they think prior to adopting the catalog of concerns at its regular meeting on Tuesday, October 28. 

Like many bored teenagers, when Samanthe Lobosco, was in high school she and her friends would entertain themselves by driving around Main Street, Sag Harbor.

Despite the standard jaded, teenage feelings about small-town life, Lobosco says she would never want to see the small village she grew up in morph into another Village of East Hampton where one is more likely to track down a Gucci bag than a spool of thread.

So earlier this summer, Lobosco, a North Haven resident, reached out to Save Sag Harbor board member April Gornik with her plan to draw in a younger generation of supporters for the Save Sag Harbor movement with the help of her friend musician Alexa Ray Joel.

Joel is no stranger to the Save Sag Harbor cause, having performed last summer at a benefit that drew hundreds and raised thousands for the then fledgling not-for-profit, buoying the organization’s support system and bank balance. Daughter of famed musician Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley — both who have called Sag Harbor home — Joel considers Sag Harbor her hometown, and saving its Main Street from formula business stores, a personal cause she can get behind.

“This is our village too,” explained Lobosco on Tuesday. “Of course we want to help preserve it.”

On Saturday, August 30 Lobosco has organized a benefit concert featuring Alexa Ray Joel at the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum from 7 to 9 p.m. The event, designed to be for the whole family, is priced at $30 — a price Lobosco picked in an effort to make the evening affordable for a younger generation of Save Sag Harbor supporters, who like her, are recent college graduates or current students looking to get involved in their community.

The event will also feature artwork by local painter Cuca Romley in a silent auction, cheeses donated by Cavaniola’s Gourmet Cheese Shop, wine from the Wolffer Estate Vineyards and baked goods from the newest Sag Harbor business, Amber Bakery on Long Island Avenue. Urban Zen was another business that chipped in, noted Lobosco, providing the tent for the benefit.

Save Sag Harbor, an incorporated not-for-profit, was originally conceived as a community-based group dedicated to preventing what they saw as the destruction of a mom-and-pop centric business district in Sag Harbor. It was formed last summer after pharmacy giant CVS announced they intended to set up shop in the Long Island Avenue building that now houses more than half-a-dozen businesses, including 7-Eleven.

For the last year, the organization has been focused on a Shop Locally campaign, as well as the village’s new zoning code, which in part is meant to preserve the small, historic and unique feel of Sag Harbor’s Main Street.

On Wednesday, Save Sag Harbor President Mia Grosjean said the organization was thrilled to have the support of Lobosco and Alexa Ray Joel, who she noted have planned virtually every aspect of Saturday’s benefit, giving the Save Sag Harbor board a much needed break.

“We need many hands on deck right now,” said Grosjean of the state of Sag Harbor and her organization’s concerns. “So much is happening in the village right now and we need more brains, we need more energy, we need more hands.”

Grosjean said this fundraiser was dedicated towards inspiring the next generation, but that the organization would push to find new members this year interested in taking an active role in the village. Currently, she added, the group’s main focuses are the proposed code and the condominium proposal at 1, 3 and 5 Ferry Road, which a number of Save Sag Harbor members have expressed reservations about.

As of Friday, August 29 the Save Sag Harbor benefit is SOLD OUT. 

Despite over a half-dozen public meetings on the proposed changes to the Village of Sag Harbor zoning code, and subsequent revisions, the code is now just about to embark on a public hearing process after village officials said this week they will likely complete any major changes to the draft code in the next couple of weeks.

On Monday, August 4 the village board of trustees held a work session on the proposed code. The almost three-hour session was also devoted to hearing out the close to 100 people in attendance on issues like affordable housing, formula store concerns and worries over 24-hour convenience stores making their way to Sag Harbor.

Last year the Village of Sag Harbor embarked on the creation of a comprehensive plan and full code revision aiming to protect the character and historic feel of the village, address affordable housing and to help fend off the influx of big box stores.

On Monday, Mayor Greg Ferraris announced the newest two revisions to the zoning code, including putting the Brinkley parcel on Long Island Avenue back into the Waterfront District. It had been placed in the Office District – a district that has shrunk dramatically since the code was first unveiled in April – because of its size. The village will also not require businesses use Suffolk County Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements for accessory apartments in the Village Business District – one of the affordable housing provisions proposed in the Local Workforce Housing Plan Ferraris developed last year.

“Just by the size and nature of the apartments we hope they will retain some affordability,” said Ferraris. An accessory review board, he added, will monitor the affordability of the units over the next year to year-and-a-half to see if changes need to be made.

The Office District, and specifically moving offices out of the Village Business District, has been a section of the code a number of building owners have taken exception with. On Wednesday, Ferraris noted a vast amount of research has been completed on the topic showing retail and restaurants bolster pedestrian traffic. In neighboring municipalities, like Southampton Village, officials are considering similar changes after pedestrian traffic began to die there.

Keeping residences, not offices, on the second floor was also important to the village as it buoyed affordable housing efforts the municipality has been striving to make. Ferraris said he would like to move forward with both eliminating offices in the Village Business District and with the current boundaries of the Office District. Current offices will retain a pre-existing, non-conforming status and can even change hands as office spaces, and second floor offices will be allowed as accessory to a first floor business.

Jane Holden, a Sag Harbor resident and real estate agent who works for Town & Country – a firm recently denied exemption from the moratorium for site plan review to move into the retail space Candy & Flowers – said she found it difficult to agree with the planning board’s decision because it effectively made a certificate of occupancy for the building moot.

Ferraris said uses were being considered as they appear today, not what existed in the past. Country Lane, the space next to Candy & Flowers, albeit in the same building, once had office space.

Trustee Tiffany Scarlato noted certificates of occupancy are suppose to be updated to reflect current uses.

Resident and building owner Larry Baum said he felt the board should create a percentage of spaces in the Village Business District that can be offices.

Ted Seiter, a building owner, said he did have a second floor office and wondered what would happen to the space under the proposed code.

Ferraris explained it could remain an office, change hands as an office and as long as it was never converted to an apartment would retain that status.

“Good,” said Seiter. “Anyone interested in renting an office?”

Frank D’Angelo, who owns Emporium True Value Hardware, said he viewed the burden placed on businesses to provide affordable housing ironic, as it was the gentrification of Sag Harbor in residential neighborhoods that made it an unaffordable place to live.

Ferraris noted the village is going to restrict the conversion of multi-family homes and in the future will require homeowners looking to build or expand their residences over a certain square footage pay into the Sag Harbor Community Housing Trust.

D’Angelo said he hopes he will not hear the echo of “not in my backyard” when the first affordable housing project commences in Sag Harbor.

A superstore is now described as being 10,000 square feet, said Ferraris, although at the meeting Save Sag Harbor’s Susan Mead expressed concern formula businesses would still find their way into Sag Harbor regardless of the code.

Convenience stores are proposed as legal when accessory to a gas station, but Mia Grosjean expressed concern that could mean a 24-hour business in residential neighborhoods. The board cannot legally limit hours of operation, and said they would consider changing or revising this part of the code.

Above: Sag Harbor Village Planner Rich Warren and Village Attorney Anthony Tohill at the Sag Harbor Board of Trustee’s code work session on Monday, August 4. Second photo: A crowd of about 100 gathered in the Municipal Building to debate the draft code. Third photo: Jane Holden expresses concerns with aspects of the code that prevented Town & Country, the real estate company she works for, from moving into a Main Street, Sag Harbor retail location. Bottom photo: Frank D’Angelo, owner of Emporium True Value Hardware, talks about affordable housing. 

The proposed revisions to the Village of Sag Harbor’s zoning code has not been without controversy, as business and building owners alike have crowded meeting after meeting expressing concern that the changes could have a negative impact on their businesses. In turn, the village has made a number of changes to the planning and zoning document, which at its core, aims to protect the character and historic feel of the village, while also addressing affordable housing and putting measures in place the village hopes will fend off the influx of big box stores into the former whaling village.

But for those attending a special Saturday meeting on the code, it may have been difficult to discern that there was much opposition to the current plan, as virtually every speaker praised Sag Harbor officials for their effort.

On July 12 the village hosted the special work session in order to provide a forum for those residents who are generally unable to attend weekday, night meetings. What they were greeted with was a crowd that stood waiting outside the Municipal Building by 8:30 a.m., steadily growing in numbers until the 9 a.m. meeting commenced.

After a brief introduction to the code, provided by village attorney Anthony Tohill and village environmental consultant Richard Warren, the crowd of over 100 released a torrent of support at Sag Harbor officials, as one-by-one they discussed the code from their perspective.

In a nutshell, the new code proposes to shrink the village business district to encompass primarily Main Street and part of Bay Street, creating an Office District on the periphery, which has shrunk in size after village residents expressed concern about an Office District south of Rector Street off Division Street. The new code also merges the Waterfront and Marine districts, and expands the definitions of uses in the village. Provisions have also been included to eliminate the need for a business or building owner to go through any process for change of use should they be under 3,000 square feet, as long as that use does not change any parking or septic requirements and is permitted under the proposed code. Those businesses over 3,000 square feet would have to go to the planning board for a change of use, as well as site plan approval. An affordable housing plan, and greater guidelines for both the historic preservation and architectural review board and harbor committee are also laid out in the plan.

A comprehensive plan accompanies the document and is expected to be released next week, along with a new draft of the code detailing the number of changes the village has already implemented.

“One is an SUV as you can see, and one is a small trail bike,” joked Tohill comparing the proposed code to the existing code.

Attorney Jeff Bragman, who represents the some 1,500 members of Save Sag Harbor — an organization formed in response to development concerns last year — said he had a message to send from the large constituency Save Sag Harbor represents: the village needs an up-to-date zoning code. The current code was written in 1984.

Bragman said he has been moved watching the process that has unfolded in the last three months as the village has held a number of meetings to hear out resident concerns.

“I can really say after watching this process, come to Sag Harbor, watch how residents govern,” he said. “Come to Sag Harbor and see the law at work and in action … It was real democracy in action and it was quite moving.”

Bragman said Save Sag Harbor agreed with a number of changes, including the exemption for the need of a change of use for businesses under 3,000 square feet. He added they would like to see the village tackle more when it comes to formula stores, but that can be something that occurs down the road.

Bragman said the comprehensive plan need only address the specific goals of the village, adding “if you had to plan for everything before you did anything, you would accomplish nothing.”

He also said any request for a financial impact statement, he believed, was an attempt to derail the process.

David Epstein, a Sag Harbor resident and neighbor to the Glover Street house most recently slated to host a Lionel Ritchie concert — the concert was cancelled after village officials intervened — said he hoped the code would address ensuring commercial properties stay commercial and residential properties stay residential.

Susan Mead, a Texas attorney who now lives in Sag Harbor, said she wanted to ensure a limit of 2,000 square feet for new businesses in the village business district was kept in the proposed code. She also said she believed incentives needed to be developed for affordable housing for apartments on Main Street. Otherwise, she said, they will not be built. Building owner and resident Larry Baum agreed.

Resident Alex McNear commended the board on including a section of the code that addresses affordable housing.

“I do feel that Sag Harbor has been a little behind in this area,” she said, urging the board to ensure solar panels are allowed visibly in non-historic areas of the village.

The village will host another public meeting on the code on Monday, August 4 at 6 p.m. on the second floor of the Municipal Building.

 Above: Save Sag Harbor vice president Lester Ware speaking to the board of trustee’s at Saturday’s code revision meeting. Middle: Over 100 people packed the Municipal Building to listen to the discussion on Sag Harbor’s new code. (k menu photos)