Tanger to expand again
By Tim Gannon

RIVERHEAD--It's take two for Tanger I, part 2.

Tanger Outlet Center this week submitted a special-permit application to develop 14 acres adjacent to its Route 25 entrance for an additional store or stores.

The new application calls for construction of a one-story, 136,739-square-foot building on land that had been set aside as open space in the original Tanger approval back in 1993.

Back in 1997, Tanger also submitted an application to develop that site as either a movie theater or a 100,000-square foot retail store, but withdrew the application following a lawsuit by the North Fork Environmental Council, which maintained that the land was designated as open space in the approval of Tanger I a decade ago. The 14 acres also are located within the boundaries of the state's Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers Act (WSRRA) corridor, which limits development along the river. Tanger II was approved with a state Department of Environmental Conservation exemption from the WSRRA, and the same would be needed here.

In the new application, Tanger doesn't deny that this land has been set aside as open space, but it promises to instead purchase other land for preservation along the Peconic River in exchange for being allowed to develop the 14 acres.

Tanger general manager Janine Nebons said the company doesn't discuss potential tenants before they're signed, but she said the proposed building would most likely house just one tenant.

The factory outlet overlay zone does allow as a special-permit use a single-tenant or single-owner retail use of at least 100,000 square feet.

"We're out of space in both Tanger I and Tanger II and we continue to have a demand for more stores," Ms. Nebons said. "Tanger intends to work with both the town and the DEC in order to identify the most advantageous parcel we can for preservation."

NFEC president Howard Meinke wasn't aware of the new application when contacted Tuesday, but he said a lot would depend on what parcel is ultimately selected for preservation.

"You'd have to know that before you can balance it," he said.

Still, he added, "We tend to be skeptical about these sorts of trades. Philosophically, it's bad precedent to allow something that's been slated for preservation to be shifted."

The new application is being considered an extension of Tanger I, rather than Tanger III, according to Ms. Nebons.

"We're trying to maximize the existing overlay zone in order to do this," she said.

Tanger III is what some people already call the building containing Office Max and Pottery Barn, although Tanger officially considers that building to be part of Tanger II. Tanger also built a new freestanding building in the parking lot of Tanger I a few years ago.

Meanwhile, in its discussions on the proposed Master Plan, Town Board members last Thursday agreed informally to rezone a 4.1-acre parcel located in between Tanger I and II from Industrial A to Factory Outlet zone, a move that could permit more outlets. That land, which isn't owned by Tanger, had been proposed for two restaurants, which are prohibited in the Factory Outlet overlay zone but permitted as special-permit uses in Industrial A. The Town Board voted down that application and has so far prevailed in the subsequent lawsuit filed by the applicant.