Southold Town mulls comments for Mattituck hotel moratorium waiver

Southold Town Board will mull over public comments before deciding whether to approve a waiver from its moratorium on hotel development to create a hotel at the old Capital One Building at 9025 Main Road in Mattituck.

The board did not vote on the wavier during its May 28 regular meeting and has 60 days to hold a public vote, according to town attorney Paul DeChance.

If approved, the waiver would allow development plans to get off the ground for the first time in a year. However, the plans would still have to undergo review by the Planning Board before a plan is greenlit. 

Alan Cardinale, a notable real estate owner in the township, purchased the building in 2014 and tried to find commercial renters to no avail, according to attorney Christopher Kent. In 2018, the Cardinale family submitted a proposal to build a hotel on the property to the Planning Board. 

The development plans would continue to be downsized throughout their six-year lifespan with the Planning Board — taking shape in 2023 as a 121-room hotel with a 275-seat, on-site restaurant; a 300-seat catering facility; indoor and outdoor pools; and parking lots. In June 2024, it was downsized to an 81-room hotel with a 100,821-square-foot catering and restaurant facility, and three 1,200-square-foot workforce housing and maintenance buildings totaling 11.8 acres. 

The most recent site plans were described by Mr. Kent as an “adaptive reuse of the office building,” fit with a rooftop solar array and land preservation around existing wetlands on the western portion of the site. He said the plans would generate real property tax revenue for both the town and school district, create jobs in the community, and provide a “financial catalyst for surrounding businesses.”

Four residents at the May 28 meeting expressed their opposition to the waiver, citing the unfinalized zoning code update, traffic concerns and conservation efforts in the township as reasons to not approve the exemption. 

“Something that size is going to have to have traffic control,” Laurel resident Tinka Erwin said. “Traffic control there is probably going to back up further — and Waze is probably going to put more traffic on Peconic Bay Boulevard, where we are dying over there.”

Ms. Erwin said she “would like to see something better” at the property, like senior housing, but reiterated that her main concern for the development is the possible traffic impacts in the area. 

Mattituck resident Joanne Lechner said she believed “any building that size would be a detriment to our community.” She urged the Town Board to consider the impact such a development would have on local infrastructure, quality of life, traffic, environment and water resources. 

“People do come out here, but it’s because it’s so different from the rest of the county,” Ms. Lechner said. “It’s almost like God’s country — you have trees, you have animals. People come out here to rest. People come out for the wines, definitely, but it’s a totally different concept. 

“If you keep building, building, building, you’ll be like the rest of Suffolk County,” she continued. “So, people will not be coming out.”

Mr. Kent said that the building would be repurposed for use eventually, and that hotel use at the property “would have less impact on traffic” than other uses permitted in the zoning code for the for the location. 

“We’re proposing an enhanced nitrogen-reducing waste water facility, which … the environment will benefit from that,” Mr. Kent added. 

Southold resident Vincent Guastamacchia said he supported the waiver application at the former Capital One building, arguing that a denial would be a detriment to local business. 

“We are a tourism-based economy,” Mr. Guastamacchia said. “To deny this application would be a direct blow to our currently-struggling business community.”

Mr. Kent said the hotel could remedy the demand for vacation lodging on the North Fork currently met by local Vrbos and AirBnBs — which members of the community and Town Board have said take housing off the market for potential full-time residents. 

“Tourism is a growing industry for the town, and I think this creates a location that can assist with that growing economic benefit that the town receives from tourism,” Mr. Kent said.