The owners of the Sag Harbor Inn, the Egosi family, are planning a 75-unit expansion to the West Water Street inn, a restaurant, and possibly a 20-unit moderately priced apartment building on an adjacent Long Island Avenue parcel in the near future.

On Tuesday, Nathaniel Egosi, vice president of the family business, stressed that while his family did have plans for an expansion soon, they were weighing all the other development projects in the village, including the KeySpan-National Grid remediation on Long Island Avenue, before moving forward with any plans. That being said, Egosi added timing wise they have submitted the concept to the Sag Harbor Board of Trustees because of the recent zoning revision, which as currently proposed reduces the family’s ability to expand.

“The reason we own the land, we have kept the land and we have not sold the hotel – and that is important – is we have the full intention soon to expand and continue our succession plan of passing on our business through the family.”

On Monday, during a board of trustees work session on the proposed code, Egosi approached the board, asking if they had received a submission by the family’s attorney William Esseks regarding their intentions for the future of the property. Egosi said the proposed density regulations in the draft code for the Resort/Motel district – of which his is one of a handful of properties – were substantially too low. Under the current code, said Egosi on Wednesday, his property is zoned to allow 35 units per acre. Under the proposed code, he would be limited to 15 units per acre. It is Egosi’s hope the village will consider his plan and change the zoning to 30 units per acre.

Esseks’ submission to the board included a letter from Egosi outlining their expansion plans for the Sag Harbor Inn. It proposed a 75-room addition to the inn on the 2.6 acre parcel, as well as a 20-unit multiple dwelling on an adjacent 1.5 acres. According to Egosi, a complete engineering analysis has been performed and the project would meet all setback, parking and height requirements. The 75-unit hotel will boast 125 parking spaces under Egosi’s plan, in addition to the 55 spaces the inn already has. The setback to West Water Street is over 100 feet, noted Egosi.

On the remaining three lots the family owns, which comprise 1.5 acres, the Egosi’s proposed a multiple family dwelling of 20 units with 40 parking spaces.

“The purpose of that document was to explain to the village board that the proposed zoning in the new code that the board is considering is inappropriate for the use of that land,” explained Egosi.

Under the proposed code the 15 units per acre density requirement would limit his family to 45 units, he explained, while under the current code they would be allowed to construct 85 units. The change, he said, effectively devalues the property.

“It also takes away the opportunity for more hotel space in the village,” said Egosi, noting hotels are different from the average business when it comes to the village services it requires.

“We have 55 parking spaces,” he noted. “We have more parking spaces on our property than Main Street from the launderette to Apple Bank on one side … We are the ideal setup because we bring the traffic to Main Street with people, not cars.”

Egosi added the Sag Harbor Inn is a year-round, family run business that brings customers into the village through every season – not just the summer.

He said there was no economic justification to building a hotel on the 1.5-acre parcel, and sees the multiple family dwellings a transition between a commercial and residential section of the village. Egosi said the units would be mid-range in price, not the luxury condos seen elsewhere in the village.

“What we want to do is be able to preserve the ability to do this,” said Egosi, stressing the family would only seek the expansion when the timing was right down the road, after projects like the KeySpan-National Grid remediation is completed.

Above: The Sag Harbor Inn on West Water Street. (r odell-shapiro photo)

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)

While we are not sure it will save Sag Harbor, we have become increasingly convinced over the course of the last two months that the Village of Sag Harbor is moving in the right direction with its revision of the zoning code.

To say a code revision in Sag Harbor is unnecessary is frankly unreasonable. This village, from a zoning and planning standpoint, has essentially been the wild, wild West of the East End for far too long. While this may have been acceptable as we, the “un-Hampton,” avoided the same development pressures our neighboring downtowns faced, Sag Harbor can no longer cling to that innocence as development reached a fever pitch seemingly overnight. To continue to operate with an antiquated code would be unfair to the many residents and property owners who cherish and care for this village, as it opens the door for unsavory development by those who see dollar signs in our downtown instead of a community.

To say we were initially concerned with the draft code is more than accurate, as we, like many struggled to truly grasp and understand the legalese in the hefty tome and hoped what we would find is a balance between restriction and protection. What we did not want to see was a village attempting to genetically engineer Sag Harbor into what would become a Disneyfied version of itself 20 years down the road.

Since May, the village has made a number of concessions after hearing, and considering, the concerns of village residents and business owners. This includes shrinking an office district that we felt was initially too large, and providing more reasonable relief for building owners seeking a change of use, to name just two of a number of revisions. However what the village did not do is alter its goals — namely the preservation of our unique and successful downtown and to implement affordable housing — as the evolution of this code has occurred. For finding a difficult balance they should be commended.

While it is impossible to ensure everyone walks away with everything they want in this code revision, if what we have seen as a productive process continues on its current course, we at least believe it will be something we can all be proud of.