Sag Harbor Revisits Plans For Waterfront Park, Talks About Plastic Bag Ban

The area near the Lance Corporal Jordan C. Haerter Veterans Memorial Bridge on Route 114 in Sag Harbor is, as landscape architect Edmund Hollander described it, derelict.

Now there are plans to turn the area into a vibrant, lush waterfront parkan idea the village is revisiting after more than a decade.

Sag Harbor Cove Park would span about an acre of village-owned land on the south side of the bridge at the embankment and behind the 7-Eleven parking lot on Water Street. It would have walking paths, bike racks and seating areas, as well as native maritime and grass plantings to provide a natural buffer for the beach, and to help filter runoff to improve water quality. The park would be illuminated at night, and visitors would be able to access it from Marine Park and Long Wharf, and from under the bridge.

Right now, the area consists of nothing but trees and approximately 300 feet of beach.

The most unusual aspect of the park, according to Mr. Hollander, would be its immediate access to the water with the help of possibly two boardwalks and docks extending into Sag Harbor Covea feature not many parks on the East End can boast.

It really creates a wonderful, usable area along the waterfront for residents and guests, said Mr. Hollander, who is a Sag Harbor resident but operates his firm, Hollander Landscape Architects, in Manhattan. He and an intern at his firm have offered to donate their time to design the park.

Not only does it provide an area for recreation, for walking, for sitting, for getting out of the water ... it connects the various elements of the Sag Harbor waterfront, he said in an interview on Monday.

While construction costs have not been established yet, as the project is still in a very early stage, Mr. Hollander said he has spoken to local construction vendors about donating unused supplies so that the park will cost little to nothing to build. Village Mayor Brian Gilbride added in a separate interview on Wednesday that the resident-run group Sag Harbor Partnership, formerly known as Serve Sag Harbor, expressed interest in helping raise funds for the project.

A lot of materials get thrown away that we hope we could recycle and reuse, Mr. Hollander said. Were not only trying to recycle this land, if you will ... were also trying to recycle and reuse a lot of the available material there so that when it comes time to build this, it will offset the cost of construction.

This has the real makings of a nice Sag Harbor project with Sag Harbor people, Mr. Gilbride said. The entire board is optimistic this will really be a doable by early spring.

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Sag Harbor Revisits Plans For Waterfront Park, Talks About Plastic Bag Ban