Chris Talbot brings zoning expertise to Southold Town Board race

Town Board Republican candidate Chris Talbot is no stranger to public service. He spent 18 years in the Mattituck Fire Department and currently serves as Cutchogue fire commissioner. He was also a Mattituck Park District commissioner and served on the Southold Town Board from 2009 to 2013.

Mr. Talbot, of Cutchogue, currently works as senior building and zoning inspector for the Village of Southampton. His work on the South Fork has given him a front-row seat to the kind of development pressures Southold faces — experience he believes will be valuable on the Town Board.

For Mr. Talbot, three issues stand out: zoning, off-season traffic and affordable housing.

Streamlining the building and zoning process for the community is a priority for him. It not only makes it easier for residents to understand what exactly they have to do, but it also makes it easier for the building department, preventing them from having to “chase people down.”

He said the hotel moratorium can be beneficial if the town develops a clear plan for what it’s looking for. If somebody wants to develop a hotel and a demographic study shows there will be business, he has no issue with it. Mr. Talbot also favors redevelopment of existing sites.

On housing, he acknowledged that it will take “some initiatives from individuals and private money to kick start a lot of these,” especially with increasing development pressure. One idea: if a developer donated property to the town, it could be subdivided with some land staying open, and housing options like The Cottages could be put on smaller plots. He also said the Community Preservation Fund could be used for affordable housing.

“I believe we can still do a Cottages-like development, but the pressure will continue to get tougher,” he said. “The pressure will continue to come here, and the town will have to be prepared for it.”

On the flip side, Mr. Talbot does not like short-term rentals such as Airbnb and Vrbo. While he has heard from people who run them that they rely on the income to help pay their mortgage, he finds them too difficult to keep track of to be beneficial. 

“It changes your neighborhood if you have people coming and going constantly,” he said. “It’s very, very tough to manage it.”

The lifelong Southold Town resident finds great satisfaction in being connected with the community, a main reason for his decision to run again.

“When you get involved in almost every bit of town government, there’s a lot of things that the public never sees, whether it be contracts or personal matters,” he said.

“On the Town Board, you’re there, you hear people. That’s the good thing about small towns and government — you can reach your elected official.”