THN: Plans underway for Winter Festival spread throughout different hamlets in February

To “drum up some local business during the winter,” the town economic development committee is planning a Winter Festival.

The committee hopes to hold the event, which is in the early planning stages, on the last three Saturdays of February in a different hamlet each week. Mattituck, Southold and Greenport would take turns hosting the festival in parks and parking lots.  

“The idea is to put the event in the town center, so that people would kind of congregate in the parking lot area, and then they would trickle in and out of either restaurants or boutiques and shops that we have so that it would encourage small business profitability,” committee member Jennifer Del Vaglio said at Tuesday’s Town Board work session.  

Ms. Del Vaglio suggested a possible ice sculpture or snowman contest, finding businesses to sponsor s’mores and hot chocolate stations and offering an oyster-shucking event.  

She said the hope is to team up with local community organizations like the Rotary, Chamber of Commerce or Lions Club to help run and facilitate the event.  

Town Board members seemed to like the idea. The committee plans to touch base with the town attorney and police chief before presenting a more formal plan.

LOVE LANE LOADING ZONES

The Town Board is considering timed commercial loading zones behind businesses on Love Lane, after the Transportation Commission received a request from the owner of the Village Cheese Shop to establish either a “no parking” or a commercial loading zone behind his shop. 

Ms. Nappa said the owner and staff members are often blocked in. She added that the business gets “constant deliveries, even on Sundays, and the trucks can’t approach due to cars parked or even standing in the rear of the shop.”  

She believes regulations would assist any nearby business that receives deliveries.