Scaled-down plan marks developer's 2nd try at affordable housing in Sag Harbor

A developer whose plan to build affordable housing in Sag Harbor failed after a court challenge to a village zoning change last year has pitched a scaled-down project that also would include retail space and a community center.

Village records show the $30 million mixed-use development would feature 39 housing units instead of the 79 apartments developer Adam Potter proposed in his initial plan.

That plan faced community resistance and prompted a court challenge to two laws that would have allowed the high-density project.

In April, a judge cited an "incomplete environmental review" while ruling in favor of the organization Save Sag Harbor and seven village residents who filed a lawsuit challenging the legislation. The village then opted against appealing the decision.

Newsday obtained Potter's new building permit application, filed last month under the name 11 Bridge Street LLC, after submitting a Freedom of Information Law request to the village.

Potter deferred comment this week to his attorney, Tiffany Scarlato, who didn't respond to inquiries.

Village Mayor Thomas Gardella also didn't return a request for comment this week.

Former Mayor James Larocca, who didn't seek reelection in June, previously said the legal pushback to the defeated zoning measures after Potter's first project proposal revealed a “fault line” between established homeowners and the “next generation" in the village.

While no date has been announced for the planning board to publicly discuss the development proposal, its next meeting is Sept. 26. 

The developer's new application shows a plan to construct two three-story buildings on five lots between Rose and Bridge streets.

One of the buildings would include 19 affordable housing units and 20 market-rate rental units, along with first-floor retail space, restaurants and parking.

The number of bedrooms in the apartments would vary, according to the application. It also says the first building's commercial space would total about 11,000 square feet.

The second building is being pitched as a home for nonprofits and community groups.

It would feature a community center called “The Complex," according to the proposal. Scarlato described the center in an Aug. 18 letter to the planning board as a "nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering education, music, the arts and social community development." 

The second building also would include a 299-seat auditorium with the “latest sound, lighting and staging technologies” that could host dance recitals, orchestral concerts and theatrical plays, according to the developer's plan.

The building application shows the project would require several approvals, including a special exception permit from the planning board and multiple variances from the zoning board of appeals — including one that would allow building up to three stories instead of two.

Scarlato wrote in her letter that the proposed property uses are permitted under village code.

Records show BHC Architects of Melville designed the plans.

East End YIMBY, a community group that advocates for affordable housing on the East End, had worked with the village to adopt the now-overturned zoning laws.

Group founder Mike Daly said this week he hadn’t reviewed the developer's new plan but stressed the need for affordable housing, saying that the “housing crisis has even deepened since the original proposal.”