Shinnecock moving ahead with travel plaza plan as tribal leaders meet with state officials

The Shinnecock Indian Nation’s plan for a 10-acre gas station and travel plaza on eastern Sunrise Highway in Hampton Bays is moving forward as the federally recognized tribe says it hopes that improved relations with the state could pave the way for the project’s planned completion next year.

Shinnecock leaders were in Albany this summer for an all-day summit with Gov. Kathy Hochul and her top commissioners to improve relations and iron out legacy issues, said Lance Gumbs, vice chairman of the Shinnecock Nation's council of trustees.

Among the topics was the nation’s Sunrise Highway billboards, which remain the subject of litigation by the state Department of Transportation. Shinnecock had four members at the summit, including newly named chairwoman Lisa Goree.

Gumbs said the leaders were able to discuss the issue of the signs and the lawsuit, which awaits a decision by a panel of the state Appellate Division. He said he emphasized the tribe had always been compliant with state regulations for the signs, a tribal revenue producer that are on tribal land on the north and south sides of Sunrise just east of a rest stop in Southampton.

Gumbs said the discussions and the larger willingness to talk with tribes was a "chance to change the dynamics with tribes in the state."

"I’ve dealt with a lot of governors over my time in office, going back to Mario Cuomo," Gumbs said. "I have to say this was the most open and frank meeting that we have had as tribal leaders."

A spokesman for Hochul said the summit "was productive and agencies are still doing follow up." He declined to comment on the billboard litigation.

The summit included members of tribes across the state, including the Unkechaug Nation in Mastic, but not the Montaukett Nation, which is awaiting Hochul’s signature on a bill to restore that historic tribe’s state recognition.

Gumbs said he hopes the improved relations, and a pending decision by the court, could lead to more productive discussions about the travel plaza, for which the tribe seeks an off-ramp on Sunrise Highway to avoid routing traffic onto Newtown Road. Some residents have expressed concern about the plaza and the potential for traffic, and it has been the subject of Southampton Town board meetings. The tribe broke ground on the Stony Hill Travel Plaza this summer. It’s expected to be completed next year.

The state DOT would have to approve an off-ramp, including work that would allow for eastbound traffic to access the travel plaza, which is located on the north side of the highway.

The plaza, like the billboards, is on tribal land known as Westwoods, and is part of the tribe’s territorial holdings. In 1959, as part of the construction of Sunrise Highway, the state inked an easement with a tribal member, Charles Smith, that allowed the highway to move through tribal land, although the tribe has questioned the easement’s validity.

Smith is the only tribal signatory to the agreement and he’s listed as being in Babylon. The tribe is based on its territory in Southampton and tribal agreements require two signatories.

In its court filings, the DOT says its easements give it control over the paved lanes, shoulders and 60 feet of adjacent right of way. It has rejected the tribe’s claim of sovereign immunity in the case.

Residents near the proposed gas station off Newtown Road expressed varying levels of concern about the venture. Cathy Sweeney, whose mother has owned a home just off Newtown Road for 25 years, said traffic on the winding roadway is dangerous enough. "In the summer that road scares me," she said. The gas station "is going to quadruple the traffic" if there’s no on-ramp from Sunrise Highway.

Raymond D'Angelo, president of the Hampton Bays Civic Association, said that while the group wants to see the tribe succeed in its economic projects, it hasn't been briefed on the tribe's plans, and worries increased traffic could impact residents. 

"We really don't know what's going on," D'Angelo said. "We're frustrated and we would like more input from the nation of what's going on." One thing is certain, he said: "Everybody would be upset if Newtown Road is used" to access the station.

D'Angelo blamed the Town of Southampton for not getting involved earlier and helping to broker talks and communicate to the public. Local residents and tribal leaders are expected to attend a town board session Tuesday night to discuss it. 

Southampton Town attorney Jim Burke said the town has met with the tribe and is doing whatever it can to work with the nation, knowing that its ability to control the project may be limited. 

"If you can work together, government to government, that's the best path forward," he said.

He said the town has received complaints from residents near the site, including some who can see construction of the plaza from their yards. He said the town, if it had been able to use zoning authority, typically would have required a buffer. 

"This is a federally recognized tribe and they have certain rights to the land that are different than residents of the town," he said, adding the town has hired an outside law firm to advise it.

Gumbs said his hope, too, is to work with the town and townspeople to come up with the best resolution for the plaza. "We need the support of the town and the neighbors to push forward the off-ramp that will solve a lot of the issues and concerns that are out there," he said.

The plaza is "the next step in our economic development evolution," Gumbs said. "Obviously there are a number of things the tribe is doing to diversity our economic base. That’s the key of our long term economic plan."

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.