Protesters Demand Bel-Aire 'Option Three' in Hampton Bays

Carrying signs that vowed “We’ll Remember in November” and entreated “Save Our Bays,” dozens of protesters gathered at the former Bel-Aire Cove Motel site on Sunday, March 19, urging town officials to choose “Option Three” — one not officially on the table — and preserve the Hampton Bays property as a park.

On Wednesday, March 29, at 6 p.m. at Southampton Town Hall, the Town Board will host a special meeting on two redevelopment proposals for the property, which officials have eyed as a way to keep the property on the tax rolls and promote tourism.

Sunday afternoon was chilly and breezy, but the sky was clear. So, too, was the message from some 75 community members who lined both sides of Shinnecock Road in front of the blighted motel property, purchased by the town in 2019.

Daria and John Roulett organized the rally, after a petition they crafted on the Change.org website gathered hundreds of signatures. As of Monday morning, John had counted some 1,730 signatories on combined online and internet petitions. The 2020 census lists a population of 14,684 in Hampton Bays, the Town of Southampton’s most populous hamlet.

The property is in the flood zone at the tip of Penny Pond, which empties into Shinnecock Bay. Redevelopment opponents worry about wastewater treatment threatening water quality in the bay.

“We want our voices heard and our waters protected,” Daria Roulett said, standing near a banner that stretched along a split-rail fence across the street from the motel. It read, “Jay, can you hear us now?”

Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman has remained adamant in the face of continued community opposition to his vision of luxury condos at the site, repeatedly stating that community members had called on him to do something about the motel, which had become a neighborhood nuisance, but told him, “Don’t take it off the tax rolls.”

The $1.06 million property was purchased with money from the town’s general funds, not the Community Preservation Fund. CPF properties — purchased through a dedicated fund that derives revenue from a tax on real estate transfers — come off the tax rolls and aren’t purchased with property tax proceeds.

And in the case of Bel-Aire, beyond the loss of tax revenue, there would be additional costs associated with razing the buildings, fixing a decaying bulkhead and continued maintenance of a public park.

Town Trustees Scott Horowitz and Ed Warner Jr. were at Sunday’s rally, as was Manny Vilar, who’s running for a seat in the Suffolk County Legislature representing the South Fork, all on the Republican ticket.

“I get what you’re doing here,” Vilar told a handful of protesters. To Schneiderman’s often-voiced insistence that a park is “off the table,” the candidate, a lobbyist with two decades of experience with the State Legislature, said, “Nothing’s ever off the table.”

Warner and Horowitz observed the rally without offering comment, other than Horowitz’s assertion that in all his years in public service, he’s learned: “When so many people talk, you’ve got to listen.”

“We feel that when such a large number of people share concerns about waterfront access and water quality, we need to respect that and give it careful consideration,” Horowitz said on Monday. He was also in the neighborhood to visit a Trustee property next door to the motel, and emphasized the site needs immediate cleanup attention.

“I was there to listen to people’s concerns. I believe it should become a park for the community,” Warner said Monday. “The town could put a paddleboard and kayak launch. The site has polluted the bay long enough.”

“This is self-determining your community,” Hampton Bays activist Ray D’Angelo commented during the rally. “We need to establish ourselves. We can’t have things pushed on us.”

Daria Roulett echoed the statement: “We are not a dumping ground and deserve the same respect as other villages.”

“What in the hell is wrong with this Town Board?” Geraldine Spinella, the newly minted president of the Hampton Bays Civic Association said, repeating the question she’d heard throughout the community. “Why are they intent on destroying a neighborhood?”

Protesters made plans to attend the special meeting on March 29. The stated purpose of the gathering is to solicit feedback on the two proposals for the redevelopment.

The Town Board has narrowed down hopefuls looking to redevelop the property to two candidates. One, First Dunes Inc., envisions a quasi-hotel use, while the second, Rich Carozza of GMRC Modular, wants to craft housing for seniors.

When he first articulated his vision, Schneiderman spoke of selling a shovel-ready holding to a developer for use as luxury condos or a boutique hotel. More recently, the plan changed to require the developers to seek all the proper approvals from regulating authorities like the Suffolk County Health Department and the Town Planning Board.

During a work session last month, Carozza noted that meeting sanitary requirements “really constrained” the project, until he learned senior units would offer “the biggest bang for the buck.”

Fifteen units would be located in three single-story modular buildings. A new pool and new bulkheading would be part of the deal. Each 600-square-foot unit would be ADA compliant, with three of the units slated as affordable housing for seniors, while the balance would be offered at market rate, running between $300,000 and $500,000 per apartment.

At the work session, Chad Gessin of First Dunes displayed a site plan for 12 free-standing hotel units, with a diverse size mix. There would be three one-bedroom condos of the smallest size, 450 square feet. Seven one-bedroom units would measure up to 700 square feet and two two-bedroom units would come in under 1,200 square feet.

Along with the pool, the property would include a gazebo for storage of kayaks and paddleboards, pickleball courts, and a walking path along the pond. Larger units could go for $1 million or under, with smaller units priced between $500,000 and $600,000. Gessin emphasized that those numbers hadn’t been firmed up yet.

The project would follow the cooperative model — the units would be sold to separate owners, but the overall property would operate as a hotel. A central management company would book units as they are available and be responsible for such hotel amenities as maid service. Owners don’t rent their units directly and receive a portion of the cost of the rental, with the management company receiving a commission for each unit booked.

Both developers are expected to pay the town around $1.5 million for the parcel. Any money accrued beyond the town’s purchase price would go toward a blight remediation fund in the hamlet.

“Say No to Condos” was another sign carried at the rally.