Some business owners and community members at a Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce dinner on Tuesday night criticized a proposal by the Hampton Jitney to begin a ferry service between Sag Harbor and Greenport villages this summer. They questioned whether it would benefit Sag Harbor businesses and its clientele or if it would instead clog village streets and parking spaces to the detriment of the local economy.

The event came in advance a Sag Harbor Village Board of Trustees meeting next Tuesday, where that board will decide whether or not to allow the Jitney a four-month reprieve from the village’s ferry ban to see if the concept works for the community at large.

Last month, the Sag Harbor Village Board of Trustees introduced a local law to allow Hampton Jitney President Geoffrey Lynch to seek a temporary special permit to operate a passenger ferry terminal between May 1, 2012 and October 31, 2012 from the north end of Long Wharf.

Ferries are otherwise illegal in Sag Harbor.

According to Lynch, the ferry service will not begin until the end of June as he needs approvals from both the village and the county.

Lynch said he believes a pilot passenger ferry service, dubbed the Peconic Bay Water Jitney, could help reduce traffic and parking issues, but also help both villages’ economies. During a presentation at Tuesday night’s Chamber of Commerce dinner, Lynch said it would cost his company about $500,000 to run the ferry this season.

The Hampton Jitney has contracted to lease one low wake catamaran from New York Water Taxi that would seat 53 people.

Lynch has devised a shuttle service to connect Sag Harbor to Bridgehampton and East Hampton, which he says will reduce parking and traffic impacts.

On Tuesday night, Lynch said he was also working with the Sag Harbor School District to use their parking facilities as a hub for those wanting to drive to Sag Harbor to catch the ferry. Passengers would be shuttled in a Hampton Jitney 11-person shuttle, he said, from that parking lot to Long Wharf.

The proposal has largely had the support of the village board and Mayor Brian Gilbride.

On Tuesday night, both Lynch and his partner, Response Marine’s Jim Ryan, stressed this would be a pilot program and would only continue if it was something that worked for both Greenport and Sag Harbor villages. Lynch added if it was successful he would eventually seek to expand the passenger ferry service to other destinations on the East End and that it could become a part of a larger vision for public transportation on the East End.

Southampton Town Councilwoman Bridget Fleming, a Noyac resident, questioned what kind of formal planning had been completed to look at the impact on parking from a local or regional perspective.

“We are very nervous about the parking impact,” she said.

Lynch said no formal study had been completed and that his company viewed this summer season’s pilot program as the best way to assess the impact of a passenger ferry.

Debbie Rudoy, owner of life’style fashion boutique said parking and traffic was also her concern. Rudoy said the loss of parking spaces while the former Bulova Watchcase Factory is reconstructed has already impacted parking in Sag Harbor.

“If there is more traffic it will put people off from coming here,” she said, adding she did not believe her clientele would use a shuttle service preferring the freedom of their own vehicles.

“I think it is not a good time to test this out,” added Rudoy.

Marianne Farrell, who will chef Livia Hegner’s new gourmet food store Pepalajefa, questioned if businesses would benefit from the ferry.

“We all know where our bread and butter comes from and it’s not from people using the ferries,” she said.

Lynch argued a comprehensive plan to deal with parking and traffic through initiatives like a passenger ferry service could aid everyone.

“The people in our shops are not going to take public transportation,” said Farrell. “It’s a lovely idea and a great service, but I don’t see the benefit.”

Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce member Robert Evjen said to alleviate parking and traffic concerns, the Jitney could create a shuttle system to Main Street from Havens Beach for all East End residents, not just those using the ferry.

“We are certainly open to that,” said Lynch.

Jacqueline Brody said her concern was the impact the ferry would have on the boating community.

“I look at this as a recreational advantage and helping to alleviate the parking and traffic problems,” said real estate agent Chip Dineen, an avid biker who said he uses public transportation.

Dineen added people seeking to go to the beaches in East Hampton could have an alternative way to get there without getting in their cars by using the ferry, decreasing traffic.

Former mayor Pierce Hance, who has staunchly opposed the concept, questioned why Lynch would use Sag Harbor instead of East Hampton and Southampton as its starting point.

Lynch said the dense population of Sag Harbor was why it was selected.

“And I think because we view Sag Harbor as a destination,” he said.

“If the negatives outweigh the positives, we will not continue to run this service,” added Lynch.

The Sag Harbor Village Board of Trustees will hold a public hearing on the ferry concept at its Tuesday meeting at 6 p.m.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Photo courtesy of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Sag Harbor and Upper Sag Harbor Coves have been closed for the harvesting of shellfish until further notice. This news came after the state discovered a marine biotoxin in the coves last week. The toxin — saxitoxin — can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning.

On Thursday, April 26 The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) closed the 490 acres of the coves and their tributaries west of the Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter Veterans Memorial Bridge.

According to DEC officials, the decision to close the area to shellfishing came after the toxin was discovered in shellfish collected from a monitoring site in Sag Harbor Cove.

In addition to shellfish, residents are also prohibited from harvesting carnivorous gastropods like conch as those creatures feed on shellfish and may also have accumulated the toxin at levels that are hazardous to human health.

According to a spokesperson with the regional office of the DEC, Aphrodite Montalvo, the toxin discovered in Sag Harbor Cove is a neurotoxin produced by a naturally occurring algae such as Alexandrium, a marine dinoflagellate that is often attributed to the notorious red tide.

The species is most commonly found in environments with high nitrogen levels.

In the last year, both Peconic Baykeeper Kevin McAllister and Dr. Christopher Gobler, an associate professor at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, have presented findings showing that the increased density of residential development across Long Island has spiked nitrogen levels in waters leading to both red and brown tides.

Earlier in April, DEC closed areas in western Shinnecock Bay as well as Northport Harbor and parts of Northport Bay for the harvesting of shellfish for the same reason. Those bodies of water remain closed.

According to Montalvo, the DEC will test shellfish in the coves sometime this week. Following guidelines from the National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP), Montalvo said the DEC will need to produce three clean tests on shellfish in Sag Harbor Cove over a two week period before it can open the area to shellfish harvesting again.

Areas that have tested positive for toxins, added Montalvo, are sampled weekly by the DEC. Currently, said Montalvo, the DEC has 18 monitoring sites around Long Island set up each early spring before algae blooms are expected to occur. Those stations are tested weekly until the blooms decline, which usually happens in late June or early July depending on the temperature of the water.

The DEC also receives oyster samples from two aquaculture facilities for regular testing, said Montalvo.

For the many families raising oysters in Sag Harbor Cove, Montalvo said that during the closure residents should be mindful that shellfish that take in the algae can accumulate enough toxin in their flesh to be harmful if consumed with the potential to cause paralytic shellfish poisoning. However, she added that being filter feeders, once the algae bloom dissipates the shellfish will filter the toxin out of its flesh as it takes in clean water and will be safe for consumption over time.

In its news release last week, the DEC said it would re-open areas to shellfishing as soon as possible based on the results of further testing. For updates on the closure, call the DEC’s hotline at 444-0480 or contact the DEC’s main shellfishing office at 444-0475.

Popularity: 2% [?]

The Sag Harbor Village Planning Board has not yet decided whether a proposal to expand the Harbor Heights Service Station on Route 114 has the potential to cause a significant environmental impact. So on Tuesday night, the board asked developers to provide more information. Specifically, they’d like to see more detail in terms of traffic, noise and the impact the project could have on the character of the surrounding residential neighborhood.

Owner John Leonard has proposed to demolish the existing Harbor Heights building and construct a new gas station and convenience store on the property. He is also proposing to slightly expand the adjoining Sag Harbor Service Station and move gas pump islands further into the property.

While the project has had support, it has also been met with opposition by some neighbors as well as the not-for-profit Save Sag Harbor. That group recently hired East Hampton attorney Jeff Bragman to represent them while the planning and zoning boards review’s Leonard’s application.

Before the zoning board of appeals can weigh in on a number of variances needed for Leonard to move forward — most importantly deciding whether or not he should be able to construct a convenience store several hundred square-feet larger than what is allowed under the village code — the planning board must determine if the project should be subject to comprehensive environmental review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act.

On Tuesday night, the planning board continued that debate, with Bragman seated in the audience taking notes.

Leonard’s engineer, Chris Tartaglia, presented a new landscape plan that doubles the number of white pines Leonard proposes to plant around the perimeter of the property. Tartaglia said Leonard has also agreed to eliminate a number of perimeter lights and presented a noise study that he said showed once the Sag Harbor Service Station is able to move much of its work indoors, as proposed, noise levels will be reduced.

Tartaglia added that any new noise generated from people using the store or gas station at extended hours falls below a decibel level the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) deems “an adverse noise impact.”

Sag Harbor Village Environmental Planning Consultant Rich Warren said he would also like to see a study that addresses the potential noise impact when considering the ambient noise levels of the residential neighborhood. As the project moves the station further onto the property and towards houses, that should be assessed, said Warren.

In terms of other impacts, board member Gregory Ferraris said he would like to see details presented on a drainage trench meant to catch stormwater runoff, but also oil in the event of a spill, in order to ensure Havens Beach would be protected if such an event occurred.

Board chairman Neil Slevin said he would like the village’s historic preservation and architectural review board (ARB) to weigh in on the impact the project could have on the character of the neighborhood and aesthetic resources. He noted that resident Elinor Spalten had sent in photographs of a similar station and store in Georgia and that the images had an impact he would like the ARB to discuss.

While a traffic report states that the project is expected to increase car trips to the property by 10 cars in the morning and 15 in the evening hours, Slevin questioned whether or not traffic would increase more because of the addition of the store.

“I don’t think people will come from somewhere else just to go to the convenience store,” said board member Jack Tagliasachhi.

“I think we would be kidding ourselves to think there would be no increase in traffic as a result of this project,” said Ferraris.

Tartaglia’s study, said Warren, states that only three additional cars would come to the improved station if it includes a store. Warren said the board could ask for a study based on local stations rather than the industry standard.

The next Sag Harbor Village Planning Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 22 at 5 :30 p.m.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Almost a year after the Village of Sag Harbor formally legalized the keeping of chickens, the artist, educator and mother who championed the cause and helped draft the law came before the Sag Harbor Planning Board on Tuesday with the first official application for a chicken coop.

Grand Street resident Mare Dianora appeared before the planning board with an application to keep three chickens in a 74-by-39-inch coop and small adjoining pen.

Dianora pursued this legislation last year with the hopes of raising her own chickens for eggs, fertilizer and for the delight of her young son, Finny, who has been an eager attendant at all meetings in the village regarding chickens, clutching a stuffed yellow chicken as a sign of his support.

Under the village’s chicken law, people in residential districts can keep up to six chickens per 20,000 square-feet of lot area, or just shy of a half acre of land. Residents will not be able to have more than 18 chickens on their property, regardless of its size, and the sale of any poultry items, including eggs is prohibited.

The village has also regulated the size and setbacks for coops to protect neighbors.

Roosters are also prohibited and under the law residents must apply for a special exception permit through the planning board, meaning they have to go through a public hearing process to ensure if neighbors are against a proposal they have an opportunity to speak.

“I think everything in this application meets our criteria,” said board member Greg Ferraris.

According to village attorney Denise Schoen, if a public hearing on Dianora’s plans is met without protest she can expect the planning board to adopt an approval at its May 22 meeting.

The planning board will also hold a public hearing on a proposal by Rich Kresberg to expand Provisions Natural Foods Market & Organic Café into the former Style Bar on Bay Street.

Provisions currently occupies 2,450 square-feet of a multi-use building on Main and Bay streets. Kresberg hopes to annex the adjacent 777 square-feet of the former Style Bar space and add to the grocery store portion of Provisions and reconfigure its health-food centric café.

Kresberg does not plan to increase the number of seats in the café, said attorney Dennis Downes at last month’s meeting.

If the public hearing next month is met without opposition, Kresberg can expect an on-the-spot approval, said Schoen.

The Sag Harbor Planning Board will meet on May 22 at 5:30 p.m.

Popularity: 1% [?]

By Claire Walla

Before showing a Power Point presentation on unhealthy eating habits and the rise of obesity in the United States last Wednesday, Sag Harbor Elementary School parent Susan Lamontagne dropped dozens of bite-sized chocolates onto the wooden table where board of education members sat facing an uncharacteristically large crowd. The candies fell to the table with loud thuds, causing board members to lean back in their chairs.

“This is just to show that I’m not totally against this stuff,” Lamontagne explained as a disclaimer before proceeding with the rest of her presentation, which outlined what she referred to as a health crisis in the United States.

Lamontagne attended the April 18 board meeting, along with a handful of other Sag Harbor mothers, including youth sports coordinator Allison Scanlon, Barbara Kinnier of the Wellness Foundation in East Hampton, and Barbara Clark, a member of the school district’s Wellness Committee. The mothers came en masse to speak out against a proposed revision to the school’s relatively new Wellness Policy, which was unanimously adopted by the board in November.

“If you reverse the current policy, you’d be moving backwards on an issue that every other school is moving forward on,” Clark said.

“I feel very strongly that we should keep [the Wellness Policy] as is, even strengthen it,” Scanlon added. “Any measures to allow food and beverages back into the cafeteria that contain high-fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners would be detrimental to students and staff.”

The board was set to discuss changes to two specific paragraphs of the newly adopted policy, which were proposed by board member Sandi Kruel.

Rather than strictly limit the presence of “non-nutritive” sweeteners like sucralose, saccharine and aspartame — which the current policy now does — the revision suggests those items be sold “at a minimum.” Similarly, it suggests foods containing hydrogenated or trans-fats or high-fructose corn syrup — also barred by the current policy — “only be sold at the school if another product cannot be substituted.”

More specifically, the discussion seemed to hinge on jelly and diet Lipton Green Tea.

Kruel said she was first made aware of issues with the current Wellness Policy when a parent complained that her daughter, who is diabetic, doesn’t have any drink options in the cafeteria now that the Wellness Policy is in place. The student used to drink Diet Lipton Green Tea, which contains artificial sweeteners and is therefore prohibited by the school’s Wellness Policy.

According to Kruel, failing to provide more sugar-free drink options — beyond water — for children with diabetes is essentially a form of discrimination.

“We have vegan options and gluten-free options,” she said, comparing diabetes to certain other dietary restrictions. “I’m not asking for Diet Pepsi,” she continued. “But to tell someone to just drink water is kind of pompous, if you ask me.”

Furthermore, Kruel said she pushed for more leniency regarding high-fructose corn syrup because the school’s chef recently expressed concern over the fact that he’s technically unable to serve the school’s “no-cost” lunch option — a peanut butter and jelly sandwich — now that high-fructose corn syrup has been prohibited. It was one of the main ingredients in the jelly he had been using.

[District Superintendent Dr. John Gratto said in an interview this week that he spoke with the school’s chef and made sure that peanut butter sandwiches (without the jelly) and apples could be substituted for PB&J.]

“I don’t think we have the right to say absolutely no to everything,” she added. And for this reason, Kruel said the main issue is that students need to learn how to make educated choices. “I teach my children: everything in moderation, because you’re just not going to be able to walk into an IGA or King Kullen and not find high-fructose corn syrup.”

School Board President Mary Anne Miller would agree on one point: that education is a key component to fostering the health and wellness of students within the Sag Harbor School District.

However, she and Kruel fall on two very different sides of the green-tea-and-jelly debate.

Miller, who was responsible in large part for crafting the new wellness policy, firmly believes that the strict elimination of ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners is non-negotiable.

“I am opposed to revising the policy because I don’t think we should lower the bar, I think those things can be dealt with,” she explained. “These are not challenges to me, and I think we can get around this without limiting choices.”

She said the problems posed by green tea and jelly can be mitigated with more creativity and careful planning when it comes to purchasing. Though it takes time to search for more healthy items, and they may not be as cheap as fructose-filled jam, she added that the school could certainly buy a jelly made without high-fructose corn syrup, as well sugar-free drinks that don’t contain artificial sweeteners.

According to the district’s Business Director Janet Verneuille, the school district is currently in the process of bidding out food items for next year.

“Our intent is to include a jelly product that meets the district’s required specifications as part of this bid for the 2012-13 school year,” Verneuille wrote in an email. “We are optimistic that a vendor will win the contract to provide the desired jelly product at the lowest price to the cafeteria.”

The shift in the school’s approach to health and nutrition would bring about a “culture change” that Miller said she always anticipated when she sat down to write the Wellness Policy — she never expected these changes to be easy.

However, she continued, the obesity epidemic in the United States is so pervasive that making these blanket changes, in her eyes, is non-negotiable.

“This is an issue all over the country, school districts are trying to raise the bar with regard to health and wellness,” she continued. “I don’t think we can not do it.”

As she stood before the members of the Sag Harbor School Board, Susan Lamontagne pointed to slides depicting information gathered by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Obesity in the United States has doubled in the last 20 years, she said, and the instance of diabetes has tripled.

She picked up handfuls of candies and dropped them back onto the table, causing more “thuds,” as well as growing alarm among board members, for whom the candy was getting too close for comfort.

That was her point.

“We’re surrounded by this stuff!” Lamontagne exclaimed. “It makes all of us parents who are trying to do the good thing look like the bad guys.”

“I commend you for the changes we’re already making,” she continued, voicing support for the district’s current Wellness Plan. “It’s so vitally important that we have healthier foods in school, without high-fructose corn syrup.”

Popularity: 2% [?]

Late Tuesday afternoon, after months of uncertainty about its future, the board of the Bay Street Theatre announced it had inked a new lease with landlord Patrick Malloy III to remain in its Long Wharf home in Sag Harbor.

According to Bay Street Theatre Board of Directors President Frank Filipo, Malloy has given the theatre a 10-year lease beyond 2013 with a slight increase in rent. The financial stability of having a fixed 10-year lease coupled with Malloy agreeing to allow the theater flexibility to leave the space with proper notice should Bay Street Theatre achieve its goal of finding a permanent home is a “gift,” said Filipo.

“The beauty of this and what Pat has agreed to is that this lease gives us stability but also the flexibility to pursue other opportunities that arise,” said Filipo.

The announcement came after months of speculation about where Bay Street Theatre would go after its stage went black when its lease expired in May 2013.

Late last year, Bay Street Theatre officials announced they would not seek to renew their three year lease with Malloy citing the inability for the theater to remain financially viable without a permanent home or at the very least a long-term lease option.

At a grim meeting in January, sitting on the stage Bay Street Theatre has called home for over 20 years, theater officials pledged their loyalty to Sag Harbor. But they explained there were few options available for moving the theater within the village and said talks had begun in earnest with Southampton Village where Bay Street was being offered a new home in the soon to be vacated Parrish Art Museum space.

On Tuesday, Filipo stressed that working with Southampton Village Mayor Mark Epley and his team in looking at a possible future for Bay Street Theatre in Southampton was a positive experience.

“You have to go back to the basic premise that the organization’s preference was to stay in Sag Harbor if possible,” said Filipo. “Mark Epley was wonderful to work with, but when this opportunity presented itself it was not one we could pass up.”

According to Bay Street Theatre Executive Director Tracy Mitchell, the theatre will pursue a capital campaign for a new facility while enjoying its new longer lease.

“We deeply thank Pat Malloy for his understanding and his goodwill,” said Mitchell. “He has provided us with the stability we have sought — an assurance that we can continue our innovative and award-winning productions while a permanent home is being developed.”

“I am very pleased that Bay Street Theatre has decided to stay in Sag Harbor and happy to be able to help them again with a favorable lease,” said Malloy in a written statement. “My hat is off to the good directors and managers for making the decision to continue to provide great theater to Sag Harbor.”

Filipo said that costs would remain high for the theater and that fundraising, for the theater’s annual budget as well as the capital campaign, will be critical.

“I think it is important that Bay Street Theatre stays here,” said Sag Harbor Village Trustee Robby Stein, who is also a member of the Bay Street Theatre board. “It helps business, it is a cultural center and it has been serving as a community center. I think there was a strong response to people wanting the theater to stay here and I think Pat heard that.”

Looking into a future for Bay Street in Sag Harbor, several sources did report that Bay Street has met with Cape Advisors, the firm developing the former Bulova Watchcase Factory into luxury condominiums. According to those sources, a discussion was had about the ability for the firm to help the theatre develop a permanent home in Sag Harbor.

On Wednesday, Mitchell said the theatre did meet with members of Cape Advisors, but called the discussion “preliminary at best.”

“We had an exploratory conversation and we have not talked to them since,” said Mitchell. “We wanted to meet with each other and the upshot is we are seeing if there is an overlap in both of our business needs and that is all at this point.”

As for whether or not Cape Advisors was interested in helping Bay Street actually construct a theatre, Mitchell said the theatre administration is interested in talking to any developers or private parties about how that can be accomplished.

“Everyone knows what our end goal is,” said Mitchell.

“We view Bay Street Theatre as important to Sag Harbor as it is one of the crown jewels of the village, said David Kronman, a spokesman for Cape Advisors. “We wanted to sit down and map out where they are to see what we may be able to do in the future to keep them in Sag Harbor.”

Popularity: 2% [?]

Last Wednesday, the Bridgehampton School Board of Education formally adopted a $10,696,364 budget for the 2012-2013 school year. The budget represents a 1.1-percent or $119,650 increase over last year’s budget and falls below the New York State imposed two-percent tax cap.

The tax levy, or the amount of money the school district will seek to raise through property taxes, is $9,734,246 — a $545,515 and 5.94-percent increase over last year.

According to Bridgehampton Superintendent Dr. Lois Favre and business administrator Bob Hauser, because New York State allows the school to subtract monies for capital projects like the ongoing middle school renovations, the construction of a new café and a window replacement project when calculating how much a district can spend under the tax cap, the budget falls just below the cap despite the 5.94 percent increase in the tax levy. As such, the district needs just a simple majority of residents who turn out on May 15 to vote for or against the budget and elect three residents to the school board.

Incumbents Lillian Tyree-Johnson, Doug DeGroot and Ronald White are all seeking re-election to the board of education. Newcomer Gabriella Braia has also joined the race.

According to Dr. Favre, a majority of the increases in spending this year are attributed to a rise in health and dental insurance costs. Since the budget advisory and administrative staff at Bridgehampton began hacking away at the tentative budget over two months ago, Dr. Favre said the district was able to achieve a low tax increase thanks to faculty and staff voluntarily agreeing to freeze their salaries next year at a savings of $100,000. Also keeping the spending in check is a 15-percent reduction in spending across most budget lines, $113,000 in savings in reduced transportation costs after a new contract was negotiated and a $166,000 reduction in BOCES costs.

The Bridgehampton School Board of Education will hold a hearing on its proposed budget on Tuesday, May 8 at 7 p.m.

Popularity: 1% [?]

An antique store for an antique house?

That was the question the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board considered on Tuesday night. While the discussion was preliminary and brief, members warmed to the idea that the historic Gingerbread House on Main Street could be preserved while hosting La Maisonette on the first floor and a second floor residential use.

The Gingerbread House dates back to 1840. It was at the center of a Sag Harbor development controversy in 2004 when then owner Jon Gruen proposed to demolish the neighboring 127 Main Street and build a new two story structure residents feared would overshadow the Gingerbread House and the historic Latham House.

That proposal eventually gave way and 127 Main Street was purchased by James Giorgio, a local real estate developer who added a modest addition to the back of the building in a proposal largely supported by residents.

According to La Masionette owner Lynn Park Charveriat’s attorney, Dennis Downes — who represented Gruen and later Giorgio — while the Gingerbread House has been on the market since 2007 it has failed to find a buyer. However, Charverait is interested in opening her store on the first floor of the building and would not expand it’s footprint.

In order to do so she would need approval from the Sag Harbor Planning Board for a change of use to allow commercial retail on the first floor of what is considered a two-family residence.

Downes said there has been discussion about digging out along the side of the front yard to create a space in the basement of the residence, but that has not been fully explored.

“It does seem consistent with neighboring properties,” said board member Greg Ferraris about adding a commercial element to the building.

Formal plans will have to be submitted to the board for review.

In other news, Dean Golden presented updated plans for the renovation of the building that contains Sen Restaurant on Main Street.

The building’s owner, Jeff Resnik, has proposed the construction of a 550-square-foot first floor addition on the eastern side of the three story building in an area that now is used as a storage shed. That construction is aimed at increasing the size of the existing kitchen and will allow for the redesign of bathroom and bar areas in the restaurant.

It is also proposed that the building be expanded on the second and third floors, by 590-square-feet and 488 square-feet, respectively, to expand and reconfigure two existing apartments.

Throughout Tuesday night’s meeting, Golden stressed the number of seats in the restaurant and bedrooms in the apartments would not increase, protecting the application from needing to meet additional requirements in terms of parking or a new septic system.

Sag Harbor Environmental Planning Consultant Rich Warren said he would like Golden to provide the board with a break down of the square footage throughout the building to ensure the project does not trigger a 3,000 square-foot limitation on expansion in commercial buildings within the village.

“It’s a pretty tight site,” he added, asking Golden also provide a plan for construction staging to ensure precious village parking spaces are not usurped by construction if it is approved by the board.

Ferraris said he would like to see more detail provided in terms of the expansion of the residential units and the restaurant to ensure that parking was being met. In addition to the number of seats in a restaurant, he noted, the village requires parking spaces for employees meaning if Sen Restaurant intends to hire more people once the kitchen is expanded they may need to seek a variance from the village zoning board of appeals.

Golden said the Sen Restaurant kitchen was so crammed as it exists today that they have to have more people in the kitchen to accomplish what they need to. With more space, employees will be able to move more freely and take on more tasks, he said.

Village attorney Denise Schoen added that Golden had already met with building inspector Tim Platt who did not believe the project would trigger the need for more parking.

“As far as the staging of construction, that is something we would be foolhardy not to consider,” agreed Golden, adding the project would be constructed in the off-season and likely in two phases.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Above: Occupy protestor Bob Shainwald at the Sag Harbor windmill last Sunday, April 15.

By Claire Walla

Last Sunday, the weekly Occupy the East End (OEE) protest here at the Sag Harbor Windmill homed in on an unlikely target: like-minded activists.

“Friends don’t co-opt friends,” read one red sign propped up against the windmill’s wooden shingles.

“Trainees, you are being lied to and co-opted,” read another right beside it.

“There’s a natural divide happening,” said one Occupy activist who wished to remain anonymous. “I don’t really know that the cause is.”

In the wake of an announcement last week that the 99% Spring movement would be holding non-violent, direct action training at the windmill, those protesting government and corporate corruption now fall into two camps.

Charlie Lulay, who came to Sag Harbor all the way from Huntington wearing a t-shirt with the slogan “I can’t afford a lobbyist: Occupy,” said he believed the 99% Spring Movement is simply “a front group” for MoveOn.org, the liberal, non-profit political advocacy group.

He said Occupiers feel the movement is now riding on the tailcoats of the headway they’ve created in the push to reform current U.S. policy.

“We are not co-opting them,” clarified local 99% Spring facilitator Michael Clarjen-Arconada.

He further added that MoveOn.org , like Occupy, is merely one group that falls under the wide-reaching umbrella of the entire 99% Spring movement, a national group.

Not everyone agrees.

“Occupy started as a non-partisan organization,” said Tori Piper, a soft-spoken girl in her early 20s with a flash of bright-orange hair, which matched the ukulele she held in her lap. “Everyone comes to Occupy for different reasons, all for the betterment of society.

“It’s not that [the 99% Spring movement] is necessarily bad,” she continued. Rather, Piper and others take issue with the fact that the 99% Spring had linked-up with OEE without first garnering a group consensus.

“He [Clarjen-Arconada] made this event before any of us even knew about it,” she said.

“We’re pretty much for similar goals,” Clarjen-Arconada explained. But, he added, unlike Occupy, “we want to find a common center, and common ground” among all participants.

The goal of Sunday’s spring get-together was to focus first on training all participants in the methods used to conduct non-violent protest.

“We want a team that’s focused on generosity and kindness,” said Clarjen-Arconada. “Occupiers are using an overly aggressive approach, which drives people away.”

The kerfuffle between the two protest factions began in large part because of overlapping schedules; the 99% Spring movement had planed to meet from noon to 7 p.m. during regularly scheduled Occupy hours. According to some Occupiers, they were not asked to share that space and time, but were rather told the 99% Spring would be there at that time.

And thus, the Spring organization altered its plans. Of the estimated 100 people who were expected to show up for the training at the windmill, Clarjen-Arconada said all of them instead went to scattered locations across the East End (mostly churches and homes) where different training sessions were conducted.

Clarjen-Arconada admitted he had been integrally involved with OEE throughout the year and will continue to support the Occupy movement. However, he said his desire to inspire change falls more in line with tactics presented by the 99% Spring.

When asked whether it would be detrimental to the movement as a whole to have sparring groups both working toward the same goal here on the East End, Occupier Bob Shainwald said that, “yes,” it probably would.

“But,” he added, “Occupy will still be here!”

As far as Sag Harbor resident Bernard Corrigan is concerned, the whole situation will eventually shake itself into some sort of order.

Just before partaking in a non-violent, direct action session with 99% Spring in Bridgehampton last Sunday, he said, “Every organization has its chaos, then community.”

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Above: Musician Dan Bailey played music through the evening as Java Nation celebrated its last hours in Sag Harbor on Sunday, April 15.

By Claire Walla

To the beat of a drum and the melodic sound of a mandolin, Andrew Bedini carried the last pieces of his infamous coffee roaster through the doorway of his former Sag Harbor coffee shop, down the brick steps of the alleyway where people used to gather for hours with steaming cups of brew, and into a pick-up truck waiting to cart the machine to the other side of town.

After 17-and-a-half years in Sag Harbor, Java Nation will no longer fill the village with the scent of slow-roasted beans. As of 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 15, the coffee shop shut its doors in Sag Harbor.

Groups of locals and Java Nation regulars gathered in the alleyway as Bedini and a handful of volunteers deconstructed the entire coffee shop — including the 1,000-pound roaster — and took it piece-by-piece to 112 Maple Lane in Bridgehampton, Java Nation’s new home. The entire move took about two days, Bedini said, adding that Java Nation is on track to reopen at its new location, nestled against the Bridgehampton railroad platform, the first weekend in May.

Since news broke in January that the coffee shop would be forced out of its Sag Harbor location, bitter remarks have circulated in the community, pitting Java Nation against its (now-former) landlord, who will rent the space to a new coffee-shop venture. However, Java’s last hours were more a celebration than a teary-eyed farewell.

A white board propped up on one of the few remaining tables inside the coffee shop explained the Bedini’s position best: “Although heinous and unscrupulous business practices created this situation, we are excited for the chance to expand and reformat the business that is our passion.”

The Bedini’s had been scrambling for a new location for the past few months.  Though they ardently pursued a few locations in Sag Harbor — including Marty’s Barber Shop, the Grenning Gallery and the first-floor corner space in the Bay Street Plaza — all prospects fell through.

The Bridgehampton spot surfaced about three weeks ago when Bedini said a friend simply drove by and noticed it was available. Soon after, Bedini met with building owner Ray Wesnofske, who, he said, “shook my hand and gave me the key the same day.”

The Bedinis officially signed a five-year lease agreement for the space on Friday.

At 1,200 square feet, the new location is about twice the size of the Sag Harbor shop and will primarily serve as a roasting location. That strip of businesses on Maple Lane is zoned “light industrial,” which means no more than 50 percent of the space can be used for retail.

While Java Nation will continue to sell bags of beans and serve cups of coffee — as well as a couple varieties of pastry — the new location won’t be able to function as a gathering space as it had in Sag Harbor.

While sitting at a wrought-iron table in the middle of the alleyway last Sunday evening, Debra Galloway enjoyed the last few hours at her favorite coffee shop. It has sentimental meaning for her, she said, having opened in Sag Harbor the very same week she moved into the village. In fact, her two children — Rakijah, 30, and Suleyman, 23 — had their first jobs there.

“It’s like home,” she said.  “It’s family.  Cheryl and Andrew were mentors to my children.

“Everyone’s very upset,” she added of the move.

But, when asked whether she would now travel to Bridgehampton for a cup of joe, she replied in an instant: “Absolutely.”

Sag Harbor resident and Java Nation fixture David Slater shared the table with Galloway during the festivities on Sunday.  But, he said he wasn’t so sure he would follow Galloway’s example and head down the turnpike for his regular cup of coffee.

“Sometimes I might go,” he said.  “But with the current gas crunch, it won’t be a regular thing.”

Slater is part of a group of Sag Harbor locals who used to frequent Java Nation, spending afternoons socializing in the alleyway.  Now, with Java gone, he said he’ll probably buy his coffee from Sylvester & Co. or Espressos.

As for the chit-chat, “that group will find a way,” Slater said.  “A lot of the people who hung out in this alleyway used to hang out on the benches on Main Street,” he explained.  “I see that as a reoccurring thing.”

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