Neighbors worry about ATM, runoff, parking at proposed Bridgehampton Bank branch

Neighbors on Friday praised Bridgehampton Bankcorp’s plan to open a branch in the Boltax building on Route 114 in the Center as a boon to the community.

But some also expressed concerns about runoff, adequate parking and proper traffic flow on the site as well as the “drive-through” potential for its proposed ATM even though it will be located inside a vestibule.

During a formal Town Board hearing on the proposal, which requires a special exception permit from the board, neighbor Craig Wood said he had no objection to the bank’s plan to remodel the former Boltax gallery space but he worried that an ATM operating 24 hours a day with its traffic, light and noise could change the character of the neighborhood. The parking lot with its four curb cuts, he added, would encourage ATM users to pull in and leave their cars idling as they stepped inside the vestibule for their transactions.

He and his wife Carrie complained that runoff from the Boltax property and other sources flows down 114 and floods their property knee-deep. He called on the board to require the bank to “capture” all runoff on the property.

The bank’s lawyer for the case, Patricia Blake of East Moriches, described Bridgehampton Bank as “a community bank. We want to serve the community.” There bank has no intention of enlarging the paved parking area and a requirement “for containment [of runoff] would seem punitive at this time,” she said.

For more details about Friday’s Town Board meeting, see the September 6 edition of the Reporter.