There are times when the number of overnight accommodations available in Sag Harbor are few and far between. As popular as the village has become as a destination for tourists, the number of available hotel or motel rooms have not kept pace.

For this reason we are interested in the proposal this week to convert the former Methodist Church on Madison Street into a bed and breakfast.

Frankly, we have been surprised the village has not more fully embraced the notion of bed and breakfasts, which can help provide additional income for homeowners, and provide visitors with options — usually more affordable options — to hotel rooms.

We look particularly at the future of Baron’s Cove Inn, which was purchased earlier this year by a group with the stated intention of converting it into a luxury resort hotel. What has been an affordable — or at least less expensive — alternative to other village hotels, will likely become something quite different.

Aside from the handful of bed and breakfasts that operate clandestinely in the village or more openly in the outskirts of the village, there has not been a new hotel room in Sag Harbor for more than twenty years, and yet in that time the village has seen a sea change as it has grown into a resort town.

Which brings us to the proposal for the former Methodist Church.

We are disappointed that Dennis Suskind never fulfilled his promise to the community to restore the historic building; and here it sits, two years after he purchased it from the congregation, falling further into disrepair.

We can’t say the plan to put 15 B&B units into the 10,000 square foot building is not overkill — we suspect some fewer units would be more appealing to the village and the neighborhood — or even if a B&B is the best use for the property; but we would ask the village board not to dismiss the proposal out of hand. The market is not great for used churches, and here at least is a plan that would see one of the village’s historic edifices restored.

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