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What is THE Sag Harbor Partnership?

Sag Harbor Partnership is a 501(c)3 designated not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of the quality of life in Sag Harbor, NY.

The Sag Harbor Partnership is committed to preserving the natural, historic, and built environments of Sag Harbor; supporting its cultural life; and addressing social concerns. We are also committed to maintaining the unique character of our Main Street with its locally owned small businesses. Through community engagement and fundraising activities, we assist projects and organizations whose work furthers our stated purposes. By partnering with local government, the private sector, and concerned citizens, we strive to protect and enhance Sag Harbor for future generations.

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STANDING WITH THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

April 28, 2021

Subject: Waterfront Overlay District

Dear Mayor and Village of Sag Harbor Board of Trustees,

The Board of Directors of the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce (“Chamber”) agrees with the established goals of the Waterfront Overlay and agrees that a Waterfront Overlay will benefit the village. The Chamber is comprised of over 120 members representing nearly all the business owners and operators in the Village. While many of the recommendations for the proposed ordinance appear to be appropriate and beneficial, the Chamber’s Board of Directors express the following specific comments to the Mayor and the Board of Trustees (BOT):

Parking: Regardless of how a developer/property chooses to modify its property or pursue any variances that a board may grant, the code should clearly state: No reduction of the currently available (pre-existing) off-street parking will be permitted under any site plan application or request for variance. This will assure our community that the current available public parking will not be further consumed by more development. For further clarity, offsets through a transportation demand management technique or a change of use should not justify a reduction of currently available parking. The Village BOT are strongly encouraged to use its best efforts to secure the former gas ball site as a municipal parking lot.
Timing: The moratorium should be extended beyond August. The business owners of our community would like to be more involved but cannot during this time due to the critical need to focus on the recovery from Covid as well as its needs for a safe and productive summer. Extending the moratorium until the end of the year provides the needed time to consider all the issues intended to be address with the Waterfront Overlay initiative.
Table of Uses: The current Zoning Code’s Table of Uses should not be modified. It should remain as is. Changes to use dilutes the integrity of Main Street. The Waterfront Overlay should be limited to addressing the goals established for the study. Changing uses overreaches the task and is not holistic to the overall planning of the village.
Village Costs: Administrative costs for processing applications is a challenge to the Village. Village taxpayers should not be burdened with added costs created by developers/owners seeking relief or variances from the zoning code. Given the heightened importance for the areas designated as the Waterfront Overlay and the complexity of commerical development issues, every application to any board should pay a supplemental fee for the Village to fund the hiring of additional 3rd party professional(s) and specialists(s) as deemed necessary to review the application for conformance to the ordinaces. Having these added funds will assist the Village’s review boards in their review of the applications.
Enforcement: Enforcement is a challenge to the Village due to funding as well as certain approval processes are not well unified given our different review boards and various districts. For diverse, yet small village with limited resources, the Village needs to adopts a gating process to ensure continuity. All building permit applications in the Waterfront Overlay shall include copies of all board approvals, a transcript of testimony and presentations provided at the public hearings, and copies of all approvals from authorities having jurisdiction. These should be assembled as appendicies to a report prepared by a licensed New York State Professional Engineer or a Registered Architect certifying the building permit application is fully compliant with all the conditions/restrictions granted by the various boards/agencies and is fully compliant with all representations provided by the applicant at the public hearings. Upon project completion, the applicant shall have the Professional Engineer or Architect submit a ceritifed survey and a report certifying the completed work is in conformance with the approvals granted subject to the satisfaction of the Code Official (our building inspector); this should be conditional to the issuance of a Certiificate of Occupancy.
Sewage: All properties within the Waterfront Overlay must connect to the Village sewer, if the sewer line is not available then the sewer lines need to be extended at the expense of the developer.
Waste/Garbage: All properties within the Waterfront Overlay to be re-developed are to conceal their dumpsters from public view; method of concealment shall be subject to review by the Architectural Review Board for aesthetics.
Improvement Costs: The Village is burdened by the costs of litter control, trash disposal, sidewalk replacement, tree plantings, lighting improvements, stormwater management, traffic management, security and maintenance of signage and traffic controls. Any property proposed to be re-developed within the Waterfront Overlay should be required to pay the costs to perform this work along its property abutting public land, thereby covering the costs for any physical improvements deemed need by the Village as well as contribute a one-time payment to a general community fund established by the Village to fund capital improvement costs to stabilize the added annual costs for maintaining, cleaning and repairing Steinbeck Park, Windmill Park, Marine Park and Long Wharf as well as protecting the surrounding waterways. Examples: Adding better trash management equipment, stormwater pre-treatment structures, landscaping/hardscaping, signage, parking lot improvements, etc.
Lot Coverage: Lot coverage for any property re-development should be no greater than the current % of lot coverage.

Board of Directors,
Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce

Kindness During Crisis: the sag harbor spirit
Helping our most vulnerable neighbors

join us in support of LOCAL non profit organizations serving our community during covid-19.

COVID Relief Grants

KEEPING EACH OTHER SAFE

The Sag Harbor Partnership is proud to provide financial support for the Mask Project, conceived by Bob Weinstein for the Village of Sag Harbor. Thank you Mayor Mulcahy, Bob Plumb and the Village Board for your stewardship in this time of crisis. Thank you to all of the first responders and emergency service providers who are helping us all get through this! Thank you to Michael Heller for the photos of our local heroes.

WEAR A MASK
PLEASE DO IT FOR YOUR
NEIGHBORS
FRIENDS
CO-WORKERS
GRANDPARENTS
CHILDREN
SPOUSE

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