Residents warn high land prices limit housing options; call for pooled funds and town coordination

Several residents at the East Hampton Village steering-committee public hearing urged the village to prioritize housing land acquisition and coordinate with the town to pool community housing resources.

Kirby Marcantonio, a longtime resident, told the committee the village has "limited scattered lots" suitable for more than single-family homes and cited two recent transactions to illustrate the challenge: the old Cavanaro building sold for $13,000,000 and an adjacent parcel of under two acres was listed for $24,000,000. "As much as there may not be land, one thing we tend to have is money," Marcantonio said, and he recommended pooling town and village housing funds to concentrate resources where land acquisition is feasible.

Consultants on the steering committee had earlier recommended exploring the town's community housing fund, codifying transfer-of-development-rights, and studying upper-floor housing and accessory dwelling-unit policy as ways to expand attainable housing within the village's constraints. The draft also notes limited sewer infrastructure, small vacant-parcel inventory and regulatory constraints as barriers to diversified housing stock.

Residents and the consultant team described coordination with town government, community housing funds and potential grant sources as essential steps if the village hopes to acquire land or support mixed-use redevelopment in areas such as the gingerbread commercial/manufacturing zone.

There was no immediate commitment of funds or a specific acquisition plan at the hearing; residents requested clearer priority ranking and back-of-envelope cost estimates to guide future decisions.