Dan's Papers - June 6, 2008 - Everyone Wants Library Expansion, Almost...

The East Hampton Library is forging ahead with its proposals to expand the children's wing. The expansion wouldn't cost taxpayers a dime, as all costs will be covered by private donations.

Last week, the library submitted a revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to the East Hampton Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), with hopes that the Board will approve the study and move forward with a public hearing. The library's current plan would expand the children's wing by 6,802 square feet (a reduction from its initial plan of 10,500 square feet), with half of that to be located underground. In a survey of East End libraries comparing the number of books per child, the district ranks at the bottom, tying Riverhead for last place with just five books per child. Dennis Fabiszak, the library's director, says they want to increase the children's collection by 10,000 books in order to bring that number up to the average of nine books per child. The plan also features a slightly larger meeting room underneath the children's wing.

Though the village's Design and Review Board unanimously approved the library's larger, initial plan in 2003, the ZBA has kept the library jumping through hoops. They were concerned the expansion was too large and the larger meeting room would attract too many people. The library's project was classified as a "Type I" action under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), as all projects above 10,000 square feet are classified. This meant the library would be required to submit a DEIS.

The library significantly downsized the plan to just under 7,000 square feet. "But the ZBA was still not happy," Fabiszak said. Because the project decreased in size, the ZBA should have reclassified the plan as a "Type II" action, exempting it from the DEIS process, but this never happened, though the library board has called for it on several occasions.

In February, the ZBA requested further parking and traffic studies after reviewing the library's initial DEIS. They asked for 35 additional pieces of information, said Fabiszak, but the parking and traffic study was the priority. Because the ZBA feels the library is in a congested area of town, it has expressed concerns about traffic dangers on that particular stretch of Main Street. The Board is also concerned about whether there is sufficient parking to accommodate the expansion.

But Fabiszak says the library's new study should quell any of the ZBA's fears regarding traffic, safety and parking. The library will increase its back lot parking by 10 spots to 35, which is in addition to all of the parking available on local streets. He says that according to its study, the most the library has generated is 34 cars at any one time, meaning the amount of spaces in the back lot would be enough. "We're more than confident we have enough parking for what we need," he said.

As for traffic and safety, Fabiszak says the area of the library is one of the safest in the village. The library draws, on average, 168 cars per day, which is only 1/2 of 1% of all of the traffic in East Hampton. And in 2007, there were just four accidents on the corner by the library - all of which occurred on weekends or at night when the library was closed. In comparison, four other heavily trafficked locations of the village saw 14, 12 and eight accidents. "So the ZBA saying this is the most dangerous and busiest corner in the village is simply not true," Fabiszak said.

In April the library board's attorney, William Esseks, appealed to the ZBA, saying that under the New York Education Law, libraries should be considered educational institutions, which would exempt them from the time-consuming and costly SEQRA process. In a letter to the ZBA dated May 7, Esseks referenced various court cases that found that public libraries are educational institutions and said it is "abundantly clear" that the library's expansion should be permitted to move forward.

However, the ZBA disagreed with Esseks and the expansion project remains classified as a 'Type I' action.

The library considered taking legal action against the ZBA, Fabiszak says, but they ultimately decided not to, as their primary interest is in seeing the expansion of the library happen as soon as possible. Legal matters could tie the project up in the courts for years. But the library hasn't ruled out the possibility of legal action, as the ZBA mulls over the revised DEIS. "Anything reasonable they ask for, we would work on and submit back to them," Fabiszak said. "It really depends on what they're asking."