a Letter to the Editor of the East Hampton Star

Dear David,

Over the last few weeks, I have written in opposition to the proposed incorporation of Wainscott. This week, I write about the opportunity that the Town of East Hampton has to step up to its responsibilities to the citizens of Wainscott.

As noted in earlier correspondence, I see the incorporation drive as an expression of privilege by people who have not looked beyond the wrong reasons for incorporation, something you called out in your July 23 editorial. You recognize that the real threats to Wainscott’s future lie not on Main Street or Beach Lane but on and north of Route 27. These threats have either not been addressed at all by the proponents of incorporation or addressed only by cryptic slogans evoking images of a bucolic English countryside.

I don’t join the proponents in their efforts to defeat the wind project or to block affordable housing and think these are, at the very least, grossly inadequate reasons for incorporation. But even those in Wainscott who might be inclined to see these issues as good arguments for local control should seriously consider whether a new village would be prepared or fiscally able to deal with the issues that are the real threats to Wainscott’s future. I have seen nothing to suggest that it would be.

I have implicitly expressed confidence in the Town of East Hampton to deal with the big issues, particularly development issues, facing Wainscott. I do think, however, that you are fair in your editorial to ask whether the town will actually do so. Although it has adopted the Wainscott Hamlet Study, which provides a sound basis for dealing with the development of the sand pit, it has not yet enacted the zoning changes recommended by the study. Now that the development plan has been filed, the town should act to put in place the hamlet study’s recommended zoning changes that address not just the sand pit but also the commercial strip along Route 27. A fight will surely follow such zoning changes, but the town has the experience, expertise, and resources to prevail in that fight.

A concrete demonstration of commitment to Wainscott would also go a long way toward persuading those who may be uncertain about incorporation to see the wisdom of our casting our lots with the Town of East Hampton.

Sincerely,

John Hall
Wainscott, NY