A battle appears to be brewing over the future of a National Grid parking lot in Sag Harbor Village, according the Southampton Press.
Sag Harbor uses the property for parking under a five-year lease with National Grid that expires this year. Bay Street Theater in the fall bought the neighboring Water Street Shops property with plans to build a 300-seat theater there.
Theater organizers also want to buy the parking lot and village officials over the summer expressed support for the purchase in a letter. But this week, Sag Harbor Mayor Kathleen Mulcahy said that the village hopes to secure another long-term lease for the property, given what village officials call a desperate need for parking.
Mulcahey confirmed that she wrote a letter supporting the theater’s purchase of the property and confirmed that the village has since changed its mind. She said the letter of support came before National Grid offered a long-term lease.
“Once it became available as a lease, we were interested,” Mulcahy said, adding that the village still supports the development of a new theater.
[East Hampton Star] — Dennis Lynch