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Petition For 'Village' Of Sagaponack
Residents seek to halt drive for Dunehampton

By Katie Thomas, STAFF WRITER

2003 October 03

In an apparent attempt to pre-empt their oceanfront neighbors, a group of
Sagaponack residents filed a petition yesterday to incorporate their community
into a village.

The petition, signed by 100 residents, is the second filed this year in
Southampton Town. In July, a group of beachfront homeowners proposed the
Village of Dunehampton, which would have shaved a sliver of shoreline off the
hamlets of Sagaponack, Bridgehampton and Water Mill. The effort was defeated
last month when Town Supervisor Patrick Heaney invalidated their petition.

Lee Foster, who helped organize the Sagaponack effort, acknowledged that the
move was an attempt to prevent Dunehampton supporters from trying again.
"It's like fighting fire with fire, in a way," she said. Dunehampton opponents say
they fear the proposed village would prevent their access to public beaches and
could raise property taxes.

While state law allows residents to form their own village in unincorporated areas
of towns, no provision seems to exist for forming a new village inside an existing
village. "If this village gets formed, I think it totally stymies the attempts of
Dunehampton," said town board member Steve Kenny, who earlier this spring
spearheaded the town's new shoreline protection law. The law spurred the
Dunehampton effort after beachfront homeowners claimed it prevented them
from rebuilding their homes after a storm.

Kenny said he would support the Sagaponack residents' efforts. "I don't think
they're out to harm the town. This is a group I know the town can work with," he
said.

Joe Prokop, a lawyer for the Dunehampton supporters, declined to comment
yesterday.

After sitting through hours of spirited debate on the Dunehampton issue, Heaney
said yesterday he was shocked that its opponents were now trying to create their
own village. "It came to me as a complete surprise," he said. "When the
opponents of one village decide that the cure is the formation of another village,
I'm left shaking my head."

Town board member Dennis Suskind agreed. "I'm having a feeling that I'm in an
episode of 'The Twilight Zone,'" he said. "It doesn't seem to be the way to go."

To create a village under state law, proponents must first submit a petition
signed by at least 20 percent of the area's registered voters. The area must
include at least 500 residents and cannot be larger than five square miles.
According to the Long Island Power Authority's 2002 population survey, 606
people live in Sagaponack.

Foes of Dunehampton have said they opposed that village because it didn't
coincide with any historic community - the new village would have no school, no
post office, not even a store. For that reason, many said they saw no hypocrisy
in supporting the incorporation of Sagaponack - and maybe even Bridgehampton
and Water Mill.

"We have inhabitants, we have a church, we have a school, stores, a fire
department," said Patti Goldstein, who lives in Bridgehampton and is a member
of Friends of the Community, a group that opposes Dunehampton. She planned
to attend a meeting last night of Bridgehampton residents who were themselves
discussing incorporation. "If it was a way to stop Dunehampton, then I'd be in
favor of it."

Al Colina, co-chairman of the Water Mill Citizens Advisory Committee, a group
appointed by Southampton Town, said incorporating Water Mill has come up for
discussion at least twice at meetings. Colina said he was "interested" in the issue
but couldn't take a stand because of his position on the committee.

"Anywhere you go, there are people who are talking about it," Colina said.
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.