Some oppose Southampton's plans for Hampton Bays sewage treatment plant

Southampton Town plans to build a sewage treatment plant for Hampton Bays to spur downtown revitalization, a proposal that has touched off a debate about overdevelopment.

The Southampton Town Board wants to use $3.2 million to purchase 30.8 acres off Old Riverhead Road, adjacent to town facilities on Jackson Avenue, for the plant's site. The goal is to ultimately build a sewer system that businesses can use, replacing cesspools and septic systems. The town will use its community preservation fund to pay for most of the land.

About 6 acres of woodlands would be cleared to build the facility, plans show. Treatment systems will be housed in a 20,000-square-foot building. There would also be four leaching pools through which treated water is filtered into the ground.

The plant is required to support new development in Hampton Bays, including restaurants, cafes and apartments. But some residents said they worry about increasing housing density in Hampton Bays — the town’s most populous community.

Michael Hillebrand, who lives next to the property on Old Riverhead Road, said the plant would lower his property's value.

“The primary goal of this wastewater facility is future growth. This runs directly contrary to CPF directives of community preservation,” Hillebrand said during a recent public hearing. “I oppose it, and I’ll do anything to stop it." 

Revitalization debate

A 2023 survey found community members want the town to focus on adding new shops, landscaping and a performing arts center to the downtown. Most of the respondents favored apartments above new stores.

A developer has floated a plan to build apartments and restaurants near Good Ground Park. The town adopted an overlay district to allow multistory mixed-use buildings in part of the Hampton Bays business corridor, but a state court struck it down in 2021. A resident had challenged the town's environmental review process.

Town officials withdrew their appeal and said they would start fresh on revitalization plans.

Adding sewer infrastructure will halve the nitrogen pollution that's generated by existing cesspools and septic systems, the community preservation fund's director, Jaqueline Fenlon, said during the hearing.

Christine Taylor, president of the Hampton Bays Chamber of Commerce, said septic systems used by downtown businesses are overflowing and contaminating groundwater. 

While the extent of development in Hampton Bays is debated, Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara said there is support for at least some growth.

Most residents "would like to see more shops, they would like to see more restaurants — things that will only increase the property values of neighboring homes if you have a vibrant downtown.”

Steve Hayduk, an engineering consultant for the town, said the plant would be designed to emit little to no odor.

Slower review urged

Some residents urged caution and asked the board to consider alternative properties to build the plant.

“I'm appealing to you, as leaders of this community, to put the brakes on — downshift a little bit — take a little more time and think about other places where this could go,” said Edwin Rifkin, who lives nearby.

Town officials reviewed every property within a mile of Hampton Bays' main commercial corridor. The property on Old Riverhead Road and Jackson Avenue had “the highest potential,” Hayduk said.

The plant could also serve town buildings on Jackson Avenue, where there are long-term plans to move most municipal offices.

Gayle Lombardi, of Hampton Bays, who successfully sued over the overlay zone, said the plant is inconsistent with the area. The land is within the pine barrens, she noted, where development is limited.

“I believe that the writing is on the wall to urbanize Hampton Bays," she said. The plant will "allow for high density residential development, permanently changing the community character."

The town must conduct additional environmental review for the plant once the property is purchased, officials said. 

Tom Gardella, Sag Harbor's mayor, said the long-standing sewage treatment plant there has been essential to its success.

The addition of a sewage treatment plant in Sag Harbor in the early 1970s helped prevent the discharge of nitrogen from shops and restaurants into the bays there.

“I would say the village would not be what it is if it was not for our sewage treatment plant. I don't think the village would exist as it is,” he said.