Cornelia Dodge

Sprawl is automatically controlled in Montauk and The Plaza, as over seventy percent of Montauk's land area is protected as parkland and the entire area is surrounded by water. This large amount of parkland renders the development of remaining land with utmost efficiency particularly important. The development of the Plaza Area of Montauk adhering to the tenants of the ‘New Urbanism’ should be considered. Montauk does have an active historical society (the Montauk Historical Society),  and a development watchdog group, The Concerned Citizens of Montauk, which monitor development initiatives in the area.

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Specific zoning regulations do not permit big-box chain-store retail in the Town of East Hampton. In fact, the town was in an uproar when a 7-11 popped up at a former gas station at the western edge of the village in 2010. That store went on to become the highest grossing 7-11 in America (Montauk may be tiny, yet it is mighty)!

 

Infill in The Plaza’s vacant lots, excepting the north half of the circle, which is public open space, should be encouraged. This infill should be mixed-use and sympathetic with the Fisher-era Tudor revival structures that dot the streetscape. At some point in the forseeable future, the hotels that are threatened with rising waters need to be relocated away from the dunes. It may be possible to relocate some of them a block north, and place them above current retail establishments in The Plaza area.