Southampton Town pitches $25.8 million plan to build town beach

Southampton Town officials on Tuesday pitched their plan to buy and raze an oceanfront mansion as a rare opportunity to preserve coastal property and create the first town-run beach in the Village of Southampton, where beach fees are steep for non-village residents.

The town has an agreement to buy the three-story, 11-bedroom luxury home with an in-ground pool on Meadow Lane for $25.8 million. Southampton Town would purchase the 2.2-acre property using the Community Preservation Fund, which generates revenue from a 2% real estate tax.

The purchase would protect the property’s maritime dune habitat and set the stage for a new town beach there, officials said. 

Currently, town residents who live outside the village must pay $300 for a seasonal sticker to park at village beaches. By comparison, town beach stickers cost residents $50 for the season and are $40 for seniors. There is no charge to veterans, members of the military and emergency service workers. The annual fee for non-town residents is $500. 

The town board will vote at its Jan. 27 meeting to approve the purchase, Community Preservation Fund director Jacqueline Fenlon told Newsday. 

After closing on the property, the town plans to demolish the home, although that likely won’t happen until next year because of the lengthy bidding and environmental review process that's required, Fenlon said. The town will then build a small parking lot, which will connect to a walkway on the property that residents can use to access the beach, she said.

“This is very helpful on many fronts,” Fenlon said during the hearing. “We're in a rare opportunity where we can get this done.”

Eye expanded access

Several town residents on Tuesday expressed support for the purchase and excitement at the prospect of greater beach access in Southampton Village. Parking permits for the village's beaches are free for residents but cost non-village residents $300 and $200 for seniors and veterans. Visitors who don't live in either the town or village can purchase permits for $600. An exception is Coopers Beach on Meadow Lane, which the village runs and costs $50 to park per day regardless of residency.

“This is the best thing you've done for the locals in this community that I can remember,” said Donna Bennett, of Southampton. She encouraged the town to continue to purchase oceanfront properties to convert into beaches across the town.

Breaking with other speakers, Chris Sargeant, of Southampton, questioned if the purchase fits the Community Preservation Fund's mission to stop overdevelopment and urged officials to be mindful of public perception.

A larger question to consider, he said, is whether “we want to be the people who are buying oceanfront mansions from billionaires and knocking them down with taxpayer money.”

He noted while he understood "some of the benefits that people are talking about, I think you've got to try and find other ways of doing this, because if this is truly the best thing you can do with CPF money, you need to shut the CPF down.”

'Get all you can'

Carl Benincasa, the attorney for seller Frances Katz, thanked town officials for helping to bring the deal to fruition.

“Speaking for the seller and her family, her children and her grandchildren, I can say this parcel was incredibly important to them as a family." Benincasa said the family anticipates the property being "used and enjoyed by the public, both for conservation and for recreation.”  

Fenlon told the board that the purchase meets the state's recommendation to remove physical structures and other human impacts from coastline areas. That moves people and structures out of a flood zone in the event of extreme storms, she said.

Town officials noted the Community Preservation Fund can be used to purchase land for recreation and preservation. Responding to Sargeant, Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara said she wants to “restore access that was lost to development in the past.”

Councilman Bill Pell said Southampton residents have the “right” to access the water and encouraged Fenlon to target more waterfront properties for preservation. “Get all you can,” he added.

At $11.7 million per acre, the Meadow Lane property would be the most valuable the town has bought using the CPF. It would be the second-largest purchase by the town using the CPF, according to town records.

Homes on Meadow Lane are some of the most expensive in the Hamptons. They have views of both the Atlantic Ocean and Shinnecock Bay. Southampton Village’s public heliport, a frequent hub for wealthy residents flying into and out of Manhattan, is on the west end of the road.