Letters

In response to the letter “Not for Sale” [Letters, July 4]: Gayle Lombardi says that she was disappointed to see that buildings 2½ stories plus were being proposed by the updated pattern book for downtown Hampton Bays. She says it is very reminiscent of the annulled downtown overlay district.

Well, yes. That’s the point. This is the town saving parts of the DOD that were good ideas, instead of throwing away years of hard work and planning by Town Board members and community members.

The pattern book is not zoning. All it does is say how a building should look and feel, according to the community, since it was developed with the Hampton Bays community. It’s not hiding that the objective is for mixed use development and a more dense downtown.

Regarding building height, the book is merely suggesting that for future zone changes, the buildings should be 2½ to three stories tall along new streets that might be created in the future — Alfred Caiola’s development plan has two new streets that are proposed — and then drop down to create a downtown feel. On Montauk Highway, where our downtown is now, the pattern book recommends that the building height stays the same.

It is not code, only a recommendation. Even so, without allowing for a little more density, developers/businesses are unlikely to invest in Hampton Bays’ Main Street, and it will continue to look the way it does: fragmented and, in my opinion, not visually appealing. The pattern book establishes consistency, requires parking lots in the back, advocates for wider sidewalks, establishes types of native plants that are allowed, bans neon signs in windows, bans signs on the sidewalks, and encourages a more Hamptons feel.

Our Main Street now is where you get what you need and leave. We want to create a downtown where people go to walk around and window shop. The pattern book is a big step in getting us there. It will be used by the Planning Board so that they have something to use when an application comes for a proposed new/renovated building and it doesn’t have the look that we as a community have said we want. They are able to say that the proposal doesn’t fall in line with the book and have them change it in order to comply, resulting in a nicer downtown.

Thank you, Gayle, for what you’ve done in preventing the DOD that failed to comply with SEQRA and, in my opinion, allowed for too much density — but the pattern book will be good for our community. Development will happen, so either it will have to look nice or it can look however the developer wants it to.

Nick Carlon

Hampton Bays