Southampton looks at buying Water Mill land for affordable housing

Rachel Verno said she was fortunate her parents bought a Hamptons home years ago when real estate still was relatively affordable.

Those roots meant the Water Mill Citizen Advisory Council chairwoman was able to live in the community full time for the past 30 years, as many people found themselves priced out because of soaring costs.

Verno, 61, said she's optimistic a new Southampton Town proposal to spend $4.3 million to acquire 3.8 acres of vacant land along Montauk Highway in Water Mill to develop affordable housing could make a difference in the hamlet.

“It's become a real crisis,” she said of the housing situation. “And it's also apparently become very difficult for businesses to actually employ people this far out on the East End because it's such a long commute.”

The town's potential land purchase would be funded through the new 0.5% tax on most real estate transactions that supplies money for affordable housing initiatives.

It would be the first large expenditure of such funding after Southampton voters approved a referendum in 2022 to create the Peconic Bay Region Community Housing Fund. Proponents of the project say the development would fill a crucial need for affordable housing east of the Shinnecock Canal. 

The plan would be to build either rental apartments or single-family town houses for purchase, with a maximum of 36 units, according to Kara Bak, director of Southampton's Housing and Community Development office.

She said the town generated about $5.8 million between April and November under the new housing fund.

Last week the town board held a public hearing on the potential land purchase from the Euell Family Trust, with Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni calling the proposal a “really great opportunity.”

Verno, whose volunteer committee is a liaison between the community and town board, said she was “pleasantly surprised” that residents had a positive reaction to the plan at a recent meeting of her group.

“I think everyone recognizes how important a project like this would be in our hamlet,” she said.

Several hurdles remain in a lengthy process before any construction would begin. Town board members would have to approve the land purchase, which they could do as early as a Jan. 23 meeting.

Then the board would begin a separate rezoning process to make modifications to allow more density than currently is allowed, Bak said.

The housing director said the town likely would issue a request for bids to bring in a nonprofit such as Long Island Housing Partnership or the Town of Southampton Housing Authority as a partner to develop and maintain the property.

Steve Abramson, another Citizen Advisory Council member, said in an interview that many essential workers such as teachers, police officers and hospital employees commute from areas west of the canal due to lack of affordable housing. Traffic, particularly during the busy months, adds a burden for them, he said.

A recent Newsday analysis of teacher turnover data found school districts on the East End, such as Montauk, Springs, Amagansett and Bridgehampton, face the highest rates of turnover on Long Island.

“Everybody recognizes that there is an important need out here to take care of the people that take care of us,” said Abramson, 81.

The Water Mill resident said he’d prefer rental apartments so the units remain available for members of the workforce as people come and go from the community.

Water Mill resident Linda Euell, a member of the family who owns the land, declined to comment on the potential sale.

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

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