Sag Harbor considers waterfront boardwalk

Sag Harbor would be a perfect place to have a long boardwalk along the water, according to Harbor Committee chairman Bruce Tait, but one important part of that boardwalk — creating a new waterfront park near the Jordan C. Haerter Memorial Bridge to North Haven — probably won’t go out to a public hearing until spring.

Tait said the village is in the early stages of a process that could lead to a state grant to help pay the costs of developing the park, and doesn’t expect that application to be filed for several months.

“We don’t want to put the cart before the horse,” he said.

Tait has been working on waterfront improvements in Sag Harbor for 15 years, and said that a big waterfront walkway from the Breakwater Yacht Club to Long Wharf and up to West Water Street would face several problems, but none of which could not be solved.

“That’s the long-term vision of the harbor committee and the village,” he said. Getting a grant to create the new public beach on what is already village-owned land would be an important step in getting there, he added.

“We know it’s a difficult project,” he said, but added that waterfront boardwalks can be found in West Palm Beach, Fla., and in St. Barts as well as in waterfront communities in North Carolina. “You have them in Riverhead and in Greenport, too. You can take your grandkids for a walk,” he said.