Lavender Bloom Has Begun In East Marion, Owners Work To Alleviate Traffic Woes

EAST MARION, NY — With the first bloom bursting forth at Lavender by the Bay in East Marion, owners are reassuring the public that steps have been taken to address last year's traffic woes.

According to Chanan Rozenbaum, vice president of the business and son of Serge and Susan Rozenbaum, more than an acre of land was removed this year to add 100 parking spaces to the farm.

"Hopefully, that will mitigate some traffic issues the community experienced last year," he said.

Currently, the first English lavender is in bloom; that first crop typically appears in mid-June, followed by the French lavender in July and a final, smaller bloom of English lavender in late summer.

Other measures taken this year, Rozenbaum said, including pricing of $5 to enter the field during the week and $8 on weekends and national holidays. Of that $8 fee collected on holidays and weekends, $1 will be collected to donate to local charities, he said.

"We're doing our best to help the community," Rozenbaum said, adding he and his family have met with the Town of Southold and the police department. "We've been very involved this year with trying to help the situation," he said.

That said, Rozenbaum said he's thrilled to see the fragrant fields alive with color. "We're excited for the season and we hope everyone enjoys it," he said.

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said he and Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley will be meeting with the East Marion Civic Association Saturday morning to discuss a plan the town is implementing.

"It will include areas of temporary 'no parking' on Main Road and side streets, pedestrian crossing areas, etc.," Russell said, agreeing that the additional parking area provided by the owners will help alleviate the situation.

Russell said he doesn't anticipate that the first weekend ahead will post the same issues that subsequent issues, in the heart of July, could.

The EMCA meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. at the East Marion Firehouse on Main Road, with presentations kicking off at 10 a.m.

Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley said the lavender farm has established a new parking area onsite that should be capable of holding at least another 50+ vehicles, "which should dramatically help their parking issues."

Flatley said he and town officials have met not only the owners, "but just about every other entity in the East Marion/Orient area with concerns about the traffic generated at the site. I plan on having a traffic detail at this site during the weekends while the bloom is on in an effort to prevent what happened there last year," he said.

Residents urged motorists to also be mindful of the traffic.

"The town has promised more police and traffic control officers to handle the lavender farm traffic, but when the lavender is in bloom driving through East Marion will be difficult. Consider doing your shopping and errands on weekdays from late-June till mid-July," ECMA members said.

Last year, residents begged for relief: "This is a very serious accident waiting to happen," one said at a town board meeting.

After the July 4, 2016 weekend, when gridlock residents say was sparked by the popular lavender farm left motorists at a dead standstill, the situation continued to worsen in July, neighbors said.

Anne Murray of the East Marion Civic Association stood up at last year's meeting with photos of the traffic woes. "This weekend was worse than last weekend," she said last year, adding that it's the third year in a row the community has had to deal with the backlash from the thousands who flock to the farm during the times when lavender blooms.

One photo depicted an ambulance with a police escort. "Had someone been in an accident, they wouldn't have been able to get through, even with an escort," Murray said. "People are afraid this is a life or death situation."

Bob Hanlon, president of the Orient Association but speaking as an individual resident, said a few years back his father had to be rushed to Eastern Long Island Hospital with a head injury but had that happened in the midst of stalled traffic, he wouldn't have been able to get there in a timely fashion.

Both Orient and East Marion ambulance and fire departments rely upon one another in the event of emergencies and need to be able to utilize the roadway, he said. "This is a critical issue. We are an island except for that road. If something happens to us, we cannot get out, except by plane or boat," he said.

Rozenbaum said he and his parents constantly promote other businesses, including restaurants and shops, on the North Fork.

"It's not a yearly issue," Rozenbaum said last year. "It's four to six weeks of blooming each year and two weekends of traffic due to holidays."

Others, however, don't mind the traffic woes and say Lavender By the Bay is the highlight of their visit to the North Fork.

"It's just beautiful," said one woman who was visiting from Europe.

Some supporters have said that one business alone cannot be blamed for traffic on a holiday weekend, and reminded that the pumpkin season brings gridlock traffic to bucolic North Fork roads.

Patch photo by Lisa Finn.