Pine Neck Residents Look To Sink Circle Beach Paddleboard Camp Plan

A paddleboard camp for children may be a worthwhile enterprise, but it’s not the right business for a small, constrained location like Circle Beach in Noyac.

That’s the opinion offered by a standing-room-only crowd, including residents of the Pine Neck community, to the Southampton Town Trustees at a public hearing on May 2.

At issue was a proposed license agreement between the Trustees and Kamadeva Yoga, for the purpose of allowing its founder, yoga instructor Jessica Bellofatto, to use Circle Beach and its waters for paddleboard classes and half-day camps for kids.

Located at the end of Pine Neck Avenue, Circle Beach fronts Noyac Bay, with a peninsula that also fronts Mill Creek and its channel into the bay.

There’s too much going on at Circle Beach already — that was a sentiment echoed by speakers, most of whom listed pedigrees dating back decades in the community.

Jon Semlear’s great-grandfather, for example, bought the house he lives in and paid $200 for three lots, the former Town Trustee offered. With service on the elected board on his resume, Semlear said he was aware of members’ dedication to providing community access to Southampton’s waters and beaches, but, he emphasized, “We’re maxed out in Pine Neck.” He urged his successors to deny the application.

Powerboats on moorings already crowd Mill Creek, Harry Helbing offered. He didn’t think it would be safe to mix kids learning to paddleboard with all the boats operating in the area, both moored and at the two marinas.

The two marinas also have paddleboarding and kayakers and a sailing school, Semlear said, listing ways the community is overburdened.

Overburdened on the water, and on the main thoroughfare. Two speakers called Pine Neck Avenue “a raceway.”

Pine Neck is a jewel of a community, Pat Miller said, but as a senior citizen and regular walker, she said speeding cars rushing to drop kids off are a concern. People already fly down the road, fourth-generation community resident Courtney Rauch said.

Raising another concern, Kim DiSpigna asked whether portable toilets were going to become part of the Circle Beach experience. There are no restrooms there. Like several other speakers, DiSpigna suggested nearby Long Beach.

Long Beach won’t work, Bellofatto said. And, she suspected, any other place she suggested would elicit the same opposition from the neighboring community, even though she said she is “very respectful of the beach.”

Clarifying, Bellofatto said the classes and camp would be “drop-off” situations, so the only parking she’d need would be for her vehicle and paddleboard trailer of 11 boards. Camp would operate four days a week, from 12:30 to 3 p.m.

“Where, what waterway, does not have way too many kayakers, way too many paddleboards, way too many boats? If not there, then where?” The yoga instructor asked rhetorically.

Long Beach has a swimming area and boat area; kayaks and paddleboards are not supposed to launch there, Bellofatto said. Havens Beach in Sag Harbor and Sagg Pond have periodic issues with water contamination and so are not viable options.

Prevailing winds make many beaches untenable for teaching children paddleboarding, she explained. Circle Beach is sheltered, and kids could go out into the channel when it’s appropriate.

A yoga instructor in the community for 30 years, with three children, Bellofatto said she has lived in the Pine Neck community over the course of her local residency.

Emphasizing that she is respectful of the beaches and community, she said, “I make sure I am not disturbing anyone else.” A certified lifeguard, she said the safety of the children is her first priority, and she and campers make sure not to leave any trash behind at the end of a session. Bellofatto repeated the assurance that she would run the business in a respectful way.

But what if the business changes hands? JoAnne Pahwul, a 40-year area resident and 30-year member of the Planning Department staff for the Town of East Hampton, noted that town attorneys often advised Planning Board members to consider what subsequent owners of a business might do. There could be a new owner who takes over and isn’t respectful, the one-time department director said.

A municipal board can’t dictate how a business operates, so once they approve, there can be difficulties, she said, adding that, for that reason, as well as the potential degradation to community character, the Trustees should not approve the application.

“You can only imagine how much this place means to us,” said Ellen Kristiansen, whose family has lived in the area five generations. She wondered why the application wasn’t denied immediately.

That may happen soon, possibly as soon as the Trustees’ next meeting on Monday, May 16.

Trustees President Scott Horowitz directed comments to the applicant: “I commend what you are trying to do. We’re all about trying to work with folks and recreation. But it’s pretty evident that this area you are requesting is very highly constrained, and there are a lot of issues that have to be overcome. Practicable alternatives may be something on your horizon.”

He felt the board had received adequate testimony to make a decision. The hearing was closed, but written public comment would still be accepted.

As of May 4, 154 letters and emails had come in, none of them in support of the proposed camp.