Plans for Montauk’s future start with tours, workshops

Four days of walking tours and workshops are being planned in Montauk as part of a hamlet study underway to determine future preservation or development of East Hampton Town’s six business areas.

The Montauk Hamlet Charrette is planned for Sept. 14-17 and will include tours of the harbor area and downtown, Montauk’s main business areas. Charrettes — a meeting in which all stakeholders in a project attempt to resolve conflicts and map solutions — were held in May and June in Amagansett, Springs, Wainscott and East Hampton.

“This is the community’s opportunity to get involved directly with the future of our business districts in the various hamlets and to collect information and suggestions from the public,” East Hampton Deputy Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said Wednesday. “People can say what they’d like to see expanded or eliminated or improved.”

Dodson & Flinker Inc., an Ashfield, Massachussetts-based firm, will participate in the walking tours and workshops to gather input for the study. The hamlet studies are expected to take about a year.

The Downtown Montauk Public Site Tour on Sept. 14 begins at 10:30 a.m. at the gazebo on the green and will include a group discussion with Dodson & Flinker representatives. A Montauk Harbor Public Site Tour starts at 2:30 p.m. with participants meeting in the public parking lot on the water next to Gosman’s.

The day will conclude at 6:30 p.m. with a Montauk Hamlet-Wide Public Worskshop at the Montauk Playhouse community center gymnasium, where there will be a discussion of what seems to be working well in the areas that have been toured and what needs to be fixed.

A Downtown Montauk Public Visioning Workshop is planned for Sept. 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Montauk Playhouse gymnasium to explore ideas for the future of the downtown area.

On Sept. 16 at 6:30 p.m., again at the gymnasium, another visioning workshop will allow participants to explore ideas for traffic, parking, sidewalks, open space and the future of development in Montauk Harbor using physical scale models.

The Future of Montauk will be featured in the playhouse gymnasium at 9 a.m. on Sept. 17. An overview of planning and design ideas from the previous three days will be presented, and there will be a discussion of the best approach for Montauk’s future.

Anyone can attend the free walking tours and workshops and should RSVP to EHHamletStudy@gmail.com

“We’re looking for lots of different input,” said Councilwoman Sylvia Overby, the town board’s liaison for the hamlet study.