Town of Southampton Considering Ban on Charter Boats and Booze Cruises at Residential Marinas

The Southampton Town Board is considering legislation that would ban charter boats and “booze cruises” from operating out of marinas located in residentially zoned districts. A public hearing on the matter is scheduled for the afternoon of December 21 at Town Hall.

The proposed ordinance was inspired by expansions undertaken at the Yacht Hampton Boating Club in Noyac earlier this year that prompted the town to issue a stop-work order in September, and is designed, said sponsor Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni, to clarify the code when it comes to resort and waterfront (RWB) zoning.

That zoning provision, enacted in 1970, is “meant to serve the seasonal visitor and marine interests of local residents but not to adversely impact that marine environment and not substantially influence the character of adjacent residential uses,” according to the proposed legislation. Small marinas in residential areas were not included in the scope of the original zoning provision.

Charter boats and booze cruises are considered business uses and belong in the RWB zones, “not as an associated use for marinas in residential zoning districts, which are primarily there to store and/or maintain private boats for personal recreation use.”

Schiavoni said there are 18 such privately owned marinas located in residential areas scattered around the Town of Southampton.

Residential areas with small marinas aren’t typically set up to accommodate more extensive commercial activity beyond, say, offering sailing lessons. The resolution notes that with the introduction of charter boats or booze cruises in these marinas, “residents find a nuisance with on street parking, noise and in-water conflict when larger vessels are introduced.”

It’s unknown how many of those 18 marinas have existing charter boat operations that run out of them, or whether any have prompted complaints to Town Hall about the noise or nuisance. A number of the marinas, said Schiavoni, are located in Hampton Bays and there are others in East Quogue, Westhampton and elsewhere, he said.

The base zoning for these marinas is R20 or R10 residential — the designations indicate differences in density in those areas, with R10 being the most densely zoned areas — and the marinas were initially permitted in these areas as conforming with the zoning, “because it is appropriate for residential areas to have the marinas,” said Schiavoni, where typical and permitted uses include boat rentals, sailing schools and the core business of renting dock space to residents.

Preexisting charter boat operators or booze cruises in any of these marinas would be banned unless the marinas changed their zoning to RWB, “and there is a path to pursue it,” said Schiavoni, though that zoning change would come with a set of requirements such as adding bathrooms if they aren’t already part of the marina.

“Well, I expect to hear them at the meeting,” said Schiavoni in response to a question about whether there were charter boat operators working out of residential marinas who might be banned from launching from them even in the absence of complaints from residents.

Yacht Hampton, located on Pine Neck Avenue in Noyac, was cited in September after failing to get approvals for work done at the site through the summer, including the addition of large charter rentals. Residents pushed back against the improvements and the facility’s new owner, Joe Ialacci, said he would work with the town to bring the business into compliance with town code.

Schiavoni took up the cause on behalf of Noyac residents and highlighted to The Express News Group back in September that Yacht Hampton, formerly the Hidden Cove Marina until it was purchased by Ialacci in June, was “nestled in a tightly knit neighborhood” whose historical offerings tipped toward outboard engine repairs over salon services and charter boat services.