Barbecue

Is it Legal for a Nice Smell From a Cafe to Go from One Town to Another?

By Skye Hilton

Recent news surrounding the opening of a new barbecue restaurant on Town Line Rd. in Sagaponack has caused residents and restaurateurs of the Hamptons to lick their chops and daze off into euphoria over the thought of taking that first bite of a smoked, tender, brisket sandwich. Unfortunately, for owner Mark Smith and local barbecue enthusiasts, there are several important issues that need to be resolved before the restaurant can open.

Because the restaurant is within 500 ft. of the town border, the fate of Mr. Smith’s barbecued dream lies on a plate shared by not only the Town of Southampton but the Town of East Hampton, as well. The municipal law, created this past July, requires one town to alert their neighbor if a project falls within 500 feet of the town boundary line. Although the law will promote the point of view of the separate town leaders and citizens, it may make journeys like that of Mr. Smith’s exasperatingly long and convoluted; longer than a slow cooking hunk of Tex-Mex beef.

Once the site of the restaurant Alison’s by the Beach, the building has been vacant for nearly two years. In this interval, the zoning laws in the Town of Southampton have changed. The main problem relating to this site concerns the restaurant’s application for parking. The lot, which can hold a maximum of 19 cars, is undersized considering the restaurant’s 78-person capacity. And with a focus on takeout, the lot will only become more congested and dangerous. Parking for the restaurant is also available on the Southampton side of Town Line Rd., but is prohibited on the East Hampton side.

And residents down Town Line Rd. are hesitant to have such a busy restaurant creating traffic problems on their street. Alison Hurt, the former owner of Alison’s by the Beach (now renamed Alison Restaurant and relocated to Bridgehampton Town) recalls having over nineteen cars in the parking lot with valet parking available to streamline the flow of traffic in and out of the lot. Ms. Hurt recalls “lines of cars” parked on the Southampton side of the road but none on the East Hampton side after the summer of 2000 when the town chose to prohibit parking there. As for neighbors, there were relatively no houses on the Southampton side of Town Line Rd. during her occupation of the property.

Ms. Hurt said she had about two takeout customers a week. Taking over a pre-existing lease and making minor changes such as repainting, limited the amount of bureaucracy she had to deal with, and just running things as they had been before was no big deal.

Today, it has also been proposed that customers of the restaurant use the parking lot at Poxabogue golf course, across Montauk Highway, when the barbecue’s lot gets filled. But with no proper light at Town Line Rd., crossing the Highway would be significantly dangerous. Ms. Hurt said she never allowed her customers to park at Poxabogue, as she felt a responsibility toward her customers.

“At night, the little stretch of Montauk Highway can become very dark. It also gets very icy in the winter,” she said. Speeding was another problem in winter. Gusts of snow from Wolffer vineyards and other open fields nearby obstructs visibility and causes hazardous road conditions. So hazardous, in fact, that only Ms. Hurt said that the three planters in front of her restaurant prevented cars from coming through the dining room walls. We all know Mr. Smith wants his restaurant to be take-out, but who said anything about a drive-through?

Then there is the smell from the restaurant’s outdoor smoker. Would people be inhaling carcinogenic materials? In all likelihood, vapors coming from a smoker would seem less harmful than those emitted from, let’s say, an old Buick (although the smell could become nauseating if consistent and slightly carcinogenic if seared). So now you look at the winds. The prevailing southwest wind from the ocean will blow smoke north of Montauk Highway toward Poxabogue Golf Center much to the distraction of anyone teeing off. But the Poxabogue Golf Center has its own restaurant with its own aroma. What if they clash?

According to the application submitted to the Southampton Planning Board, meat and sauce drippings should never come into contact with the heat source, so this isn’t going to be a big problem, says JoAnne Pahwul, the assistant planning director for the Town of Southampton.

Thankfully for Mr. Smith, the summer season has ended and he will have the winter to work out any problems before Memorial Day rolls around. The prospects of Mr. Smith (respected owner of such successful restaurants as La Fondita, Nick and Toni’s, and Rowdy Hall) opening a barbecue restaurant has already generated a decent amount of hype among the impressive and delicately indulgent world that is the Hamptons dining scene. And it’s not over.

At the conclusion of my conversation with Ms. Hurt, she laughed and let out a sigh of relief, wishing Mark Smith the best of luck before stating that she was “glad to have moved into off the highway and into town.”