Southold Town Police were called to the town’s Planning Board meeting Monday evening, after a neighbor of the proposed Enclaves resort hotel in Southold protested the board’s approval of a third six-month extension of the project’s site plan.
Construction has been halted at the site since not long after it was cleared in early 2024, due to the loss of $25 million in funding for the project and the developers’ attempts to find new funding sources, developers have told the Planning Board over the past year.
Large piles of dirt have been sitting around the site for nearly two years as construction halted after workers began to pour the foundations.
Pictured Above: The Enclaves resort hotel project in late February of 2024. Developers were given permission to clear the lot in advance of receiving a building permit, due to clearing limitations to the winter months to protect the seasonal nesting habitat for long-eared bats.
Barbara Pantino, who lives in the neighborhood near Founders Landing across the Main Road from the proposed hotel, got up from her seat in the front row of the Southold Town Planning Board’s July 13 session in the basement meeting room of the Town Hall Annex as the board took up a resolution extending the site plan.
She said the board was approving the extension “at taxpayer expense,” as neighbors deal with “dust and filth” from the dirt piles, which have been covered with tarps that continuously blow off the piles.
“The tarps you’re putting in are not helping,” she said, adding that the neighbors’ “vista is filth. We’ve been looking at this since 2023.”
As Planning Department staff asked Ms. Pantino to stop speaking and left the room to call the police, Ms. Pantino sat down at the square of tables where board members were seated.
“You are not voting on this issue without public approval. We pay for your cushy seat, your salary,” she said. “You are way out of bounds. This is dropped in a neighborhood, not a commercial place… Get a security guard. Get a cop. I’m not moving until I’m heard.”
As Southold Town Attorney Ben Johnson entered the room, Planning Director Heather Lanza said “the police have been called.”
“Good. The police have been called,” said Ms. Pantino, who then listened as the board read and unanimously approved the resolution. She then left the meeting.
At its June 22 work session, Planning Board members had discussed giving the developers 45 days to cover the sand piles properly before voting on a six-month extension of the site plan. But the resolution approved July 13 granted a full six-month extension.
“I was able to speak my mind on most points. They couldn’t tape my mouth shut,” Ms. Pantino told The Beacon later. She said she saw the police as she was leaving.
“I told the police I did not need escorting. I was leaving,” she said. “It’s obvious to see why no one bothers speaking up anymore. It’s useless. They will do what they want to do regardless of public opinion from the taxpayers. The only strength we have is voting time. That’s about it.”
Ms. Pantino had written a letter to The Beacon after we reported last month that the Planning Board was considering another extension. In the letter, she asked Southold Town to use the property for affordable housing.
“We are in a “housing crisis.” Southold Town is looking for ways to help with down payments on homes,” she wrote to us. “Buy The Enclaves property with taxpayer dollars, zone it residential and get HUD NYS grant money to help. Hire a builder and there ya go! A hotel and 100 people event room along with whatever else is planned is way too big to scale in a residential community/area! There was no thought whatsoever when it was approved. I just don’t get it!”
The project has been controversial from the start.
Slated to include a 44-room hotel, potentially under the Marriott brand of hotels, the plan includes two restaurants, a spa and a 100-person capacity event space, neighbors had packed public hearings raising objections prior to the project’s site plan approval in 2024.
The developers had also sought and received tax abatements from the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency over the objections of Southold residents and town government officials.
Town Supervisor Al Krupski, who was still serving in the Suffolk County Legislature but was running for Town Supervisor during the IDA hearings, also opposed the tax abatements.
In February of 2024, developers were given permission to clear the lot in advance of receiving a building permit, due to DEC guidelines to only remove trees in the winter months to protect the seasonal nesting habitat for long-eared bats. In the summer of that year graffiti appeared on the construction fence surrounding the site saying “Tax the Rich. F*&% Marriott.” It was quickly removed.
The developers are now seeking funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Business & Industry loan program and another program known as C-Pace — Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy loan funding.
The USDA-backed loan requires them to undergo a lengthy National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental review, developers have told the Planning Board this year.
They told the board June 22 that the NEPA review was near completion and they expected to close on their loan within 60 to 90 days and immediately resume work.
In Other News…
Also at the Planning Board’s July 13 work session and meeting, the board approved an 18-month extension for the Hard Corner Heart of Love Lane redevelopment of the former Capital One Bank branch location on Love Lane in Mattituck.
The project has site plan approval for a 56-seat restaurant and two retail spaces on the first floor, and two commercial spaces and one accessory apartment on the second floor.
The owners of the property have since received additional Southold Town septic flow credits to convert the majority of the space in the building to 12 affordable apartments, and are awaiting the town’s completion of its affordable housing developer subsidy program before amending the project.
They told the Planning Board July 13 that they intend to keep their existing site plan approval current while awaiting the town’s final affordable housing guidelines.
The updated plan is slated to include five apartments on the ground floor, seven apartments upstairs, a 16-seat café/coffee shop and two retail stores of 675 and 1,195 square feet, respectively, according to plans provided to the Southold Town Board as it considered granting seven septic flow credits, required by the Suffolk County Health Department in order to intensify the residential use there.
A public hearing on a 10-unit apartment building behind the Handy Pantry in Mattituck had initially been slated for July 13, but it had been postponed while the Planning Department finishes State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) review, a Planning Dempartment staff member told us last week.
More information on both of these projects is in our April 8 update on affordable housing in Southold.
Also on Monday evening, the board closed an ongoing public hearing on a proposed pocket park adjacent to the Southold Free Library, including a stone amphitheater, seating and activity space for library programs.
Joan Bischoff and Nicholas Planamento, who own the adjoining property, raised concerns about parking and traffic flow on the park property at both the July 13 public hearing extension and a hearing in June.
The board also closed hearings without receiving any public comment on a proposed expansion of a barn at 1160 Traveler Street into an interior design studio and alterations to Oregon Road Estate Winery (Lieb Cellars), including a new septic system, reconfiguration of interior space and an expansion of its parking area.
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