In Sag Harbor, effort to preserve historically Black beach communities gets a boost

The Sag Harbor Village Board has created a new zoning category following months of considering options about how to best preserve the character of three historically Black beach communities that were borne out of discrimination. 

The board voted Tuesday to create a local law establishing the Historically Black Beach Communities Overlay District for the communities of Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest and Ninevah — the SANS Historic District.

Black people established the communities beginning in 1947 when Jim Crow laws that legalized segregation barred them from white beach communities. 

“The purpose of the overlay district is to protect the cultural and historic nature of the community by regulating what you can and can’t do with a property,” Village Mayor James Larocca told Newsday.   

He said Wednesday the new law doesn’t substitute for village code but supplements it and creates procedures that take into account the special character of those communities. Among other things, the new legislation would prohibit installing sidewalks and tightens enforcement of existing codes to make it harder to get a zoning variance.

For months residents had pushed the board to adopt measures aimed at preserving their neighborhoods, which were added to both state and national historic registries in 2019.

In recent years, interest from real estate agents and others seeking to buy properties in the district led to an active debate about how to protect the historic character and culture of the neighborhoods.

The presidents of the Ninevah Beach Property Owners Association, the Sag Harbor Hills Improvement Association and the Azurest Property Owners Association campaigned for the overlay district.

“We’re pleased the village has decided to help us to put these relatively modest but important zoning policies in place to help stabilize and preserve our community,” Errol Taylor, president of the Ninevah Beach Property Owners Association, said Wednesday.

Separately, Sag Harbor Hills resident Renee Simons has been leading other community members in seeking local historic designation, which offers stricter guidelines for home improvements. 

She told Newsday on Wednesday her concern is that the overlay district doesn't manage demolition and isn't permanent.

Larocca said he never saw the two proposals as mutually exclusive and that each addresses a different element of the mission of preservation. He said adding SANS properties to the village’s existing historic district is a work in progress.

Simons said she agrees with the mayor that the two proposals work together, but would like to see village officials commit to setting a date for when properties in the SANS district will be added to the village's existing historic district.