Not so different across the moat: Greenport and Shelter Island share same concerns

Affordable housing, year-round jobs, concerns with septics and water quantity and quality, zoning changes, climate change.

These are not just issues for Shelter Islanders, but a recent public meeting found Greenporters are wrestling with the same concerns.

A two-hour “TR Talks” session, presented by Times Review on March 21 at the American Legion Post on the future of Greenport Village, focused on these and related issues.

One great thing in common is just as Greenport Villagers assert their uniqueness from Southold Town, so too do Islanders from the North and South Forks.

Affordable housing is at the crux of all other issues for Greenport. Even for those with good jobs — employees of Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital (SBELIH) and Peconic Landing — an increasing number of workers can’t afford to live in the area.

Some newer arrivals to the Island have said if people can’t afford to stay in that town, they should leave.

It may surprise many that even doctors earning as much as $350,000 a year have had difficulty finding a house on the North Fork they can afford, said SBELIH Chief Administrative Officer Paul Connor III, and are often choosing jobs at hospitals away from this area.

Twenty years ago, 80 to 85% of hospital employees lived on the North Fork, compared with 47% now, Mr. Connor added. Peconic Landing Chief Executive Officer Bob Syron said he almost turned down his job years ago because of the cost of housing.

Being allowed to live with his family on the Peconic Landing campus for four years enabled him to save money so he could buy a house in nearby East Marion.

Greenport Mayor Kevin Steussi said he’s visited houses in such deplorable condition Village officials had to receive court orders to tear them down and found people sleeping in some of those hovels.

The mayor is working to set up partnerships with private developers to create affordable houses and exploring code changes to allow owners with large houses to create accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The Island is on the way to seeing 16 such units created as a result of a $2 million state grant and just got word of a second such grant at $1.5 million that could create 12 more.

While Mr. Connor said he can’t have housing built on the main hospital property, some apartments have been created above the Opportunity Shop in downtown Greenport.

He hopes to have more constructed. But that’s a small number compared to what’s needed. He has to balance money needed for hospital equipment with housing and other demands.

Peconic Landing has room for staff housing on its campus and Mr. Syron has spoken with contractors but, of course, it takes money and he doesn’t think it’s fair to put that on the backs of the senior community’s current residents.

Rev. Natalie Wimberly, pastor of Clinton Memorial AME Zion Church, told attendees she loves Greenport but won’t be able to stay when she retires because of housing costs. Instead, she would move back to her hometown, Indianapolis.

People who lived in Greenport all their lives have had to move to Maryland and North Carolina, Rev. Wimberly said.

Panelist Lori Panarello, who operates Craft Hair in Greenport, talked about her difficulty keeping staff and having to pay a key employee who travels for an hour or more each way to work in the Village because she can’t afford to live on the North Fork.

Sonia Spar, Southold town liaison to the Spanish-speaking community, focused on the absence of most Latinos at the forum. Many hold three jobs to manage their expenses and think the community doesn’t care about their needs.

They often feel they are invisible to the rest of the community, Ms. Spar said. Other North Fork residents hire them as laborers but don’t interact with them. They’re an essential part of the community, Ms. Spar said, noting their contribution to supporting businesses.

“Without them, nothing would be working —  the farms, the businesses, the restaurants, hospitality,” she said.“We have a wealth of talent and they need more visibility; we are all human beings.”

Food insecurity is a factor in both municipalities, and was a topic of conversation. CAST (Center for Advocacy, Support and Transformation), which does so much on the North Fork and Shelter Island to fight food insecurity, can’t feed the world, Rev. Wimberly said. The community must become collaborative, more engaged with one another if it’s to thrive and grow, Ms. Spar said.

Mr. Steussi was elected in large part by a constituency who favored his efforts to enact a moratorium on development, and allowing for zoning changes and reforms that he saw as necessary to reverse the trend that has year-round businesses struggling to survive, and residents of all economic backgrounds having to relocate.

“Moratorium shouldn’t be a bad word,” Mr. Steussi said. Sometimes it’s necessary to hit pause in order to reassesses what’s happening and decide how to move forward, he added. He wants to support tourism, but not at the expense of year-round residents.

Similarly, the Island has had to curb its policy on vacation rentals to create more opportunities for year-round housing.

While working to provide more year-round housing, zoning changes will keep additional hotels from being built in waterfront commercial zones, the mayor said.

The zoning code didn’t allow for creation of a marine science center that could have provided good year-round jobs, he said. He wants students to learn boat building skills and other vocational talents.

Mr. Syron said he generally has job openings and even those who take entry level positions know management promotes from within. “We grow our own,” Mr. Syron said, adding there are scholarships available for training programs.

Another factor Greenport and Shelter Island share is the effect of climate change.

Mr. Connor said the hospital’s electric distribution system is below the building and flooding has always been a problem, but tides are higher and more frequent now.

A hospital to the west has sustained so much flooding it had to be permanently closed and that could have been SBELIH’s fate, Mr. Conner said. It might be a matter of time before that could happen, he said, forcing the need to relocate the electric distribution system at a $3 million cost.

With the frequency and severity of storms, the hospital isn’t the only area in the Village where flooding is an issue. The Island’s flooding problems are exacerbated by the dependence on wells in low lying areas that are subject to salt water intrusion.

Both communities deal with septic issues. Thanks to a grant years ago, the Village was able to build a new sewer system. But now the system needs work and that costs money.

The Island, on the other hand, has no sewer system and depends primarily on individual septic systems, while the debate goes forward about whether individual I/A septic systems or a central treatment system would deal most effectively and economically with wastewater problems.