Sailing club's push to regroup hits snag

A group of Southampton homeowners opposed to resurrecting a defunct sailing club in their neighborhood has won a temporary restraining order to stop the clearing of wetlands and has sued to force the town to dismiss the proposal.

The lawsuit -- against the Town of Southampton and the nonprofit Mecox Sailing Association -- was filed Sept. 7 in State Supreme Court in Riverhead by the Mecox Bay Civic Association and homeowners who oppose the club. It contends that the town did not follow its own codes when determining the environmental study of the plan, including bathroom facilities and its effect on the ecosystem.

"To permit the Town to clear this land for the purpose of turning it over to a private yacht club is entirely contradictory to the spirits and actual letter of the Town law governing wetland protection," the lawsuit claims.

For 50 years, young children took to small boats and learned sailing at the end of Bay Lane in Water Mill. Jeffrey Mansfield remembers it well. He took lessons there in the 1970s and is a key force in trying to revive the club.

But the school closed in the 1990s, and in the years since, the town-owned park that housed the club has become overgrown and the boathouse is dilapidated.

Two years ago, Mansfield and some neighbors decided it was time to reopen the sailing school for local children. Sailing instruction would be offered and dues would be low, he said, adding that members could use the small boats at allotted times. Since then, the sailing association has acquired the necessary permits and awaits a licensing agreement with the town.

The school would benefit those who don't have their own boats or can't afford one, Mansfield said. There will also be no electricity or plumbing.

"The idea is to get them on the water," he said. "To learn about the bay and to make them better environmentalists. It's almost a birthright in a maritime community."

The club has the support of some residents and town trustees, and there have been seven public hearings on the matter in the past year.

But more than 170 homeowners signed a petition opposing the school, according to documents filed with the town. In addition to the ecological concerns, opposing homeowners have also cited traffic and safety concerns.

Bram Weber, attorney for those homeowners, said there is full access to Mecox Bay from the town's property. There is "nothing impeding full public access," he said. "And the homeowners who live there . . . have never restricted that access."

Susan Habermann, a longtime resident who remembers the old sailing school, opposes a new one. "The problem is, no one really knows how the site would be used," said Habermann, who is a party to the suit. "Because it hasn't been defined, and that has become a major concern."