June 10, 2021

Good People of Lordship,

Hi, I’m Doug from Little Pub and The Surfside Hotel.

Recent days have seen the distribution of anonymous memorandums filled with speculation, rumors, and inaccuracies about our ideas for the space at 60 Beach. People oftentimes assume conclusions and then go looking for evidence and the writers have come to these conclusions without taking the time or interest in asking us directly. That’s unfortunate because our experience has been that every time we have spoken to someone about an issue or question  they find us approachable and reasonable and we come to a mutual understanding.

Furthermore, while the anonymous writers seem to be talking on behalf of all of Lordship, most of the direct feedback we have received to date is supportive of our business and our approach. These are your neighbors, they might even be you (and if so, thank you for your support!).

So, if you have questions or concerns about our ideas for the lot at 60 Beach, I would welcome the opportunity to discuss with you.

I’ll be at Little Pub every morning from 8am-10am June 14-18. You can book a time (2 people at a time max please) here https://bit.ly/3gw7Bnr or at the QR code below. I will even buy the coffee.  

We’ll post updates and feedback to www.lordshiplife.com

Looking forward to meeting you!

Doug

UPDATE June 12

First off, let’s talk about….

SUMMER 2020

Summer 2020 was extremely tough on everyone: Covid, travel restrictions, closed borders between states, elections, protests,  etc.. Everyone was understandably on edge.

Summer 2020 was also an anomaly in that virtually every town beach in the Tri state area was closed to non-residents, and all state parks and beaches closed at 8:30 AM due to lowered capacity and overcrowding.

Locally, while Long Beach and Short Beach were closed to nonresidents, the two beaches adjacent to the Seawall were open to the public. That news traveled quickly throughout CT and the neighboring states. It is flattering to think all those people came down to visit Little Pub, but the Lordship traffic crush of Summer 2020 probably had more to do with the seawall beaches being among the only publicly accessible beaches in the tri state area than a result of any business operating in the area. A lack of parking or facilities contributed to the resulting chaos and disruptions.

Fast forward to today (or rewind to when we opened in Summer 2019) and realize that we have had hot summer weather for a few weeks now without a repeat of the same issues we all experienced last summer. Our expectation is that we will not see a repeat of those experiences. People have other recreation options now.

UPDATE June 13

OUR GRAND PLAN FOR THE LOT

Call us lazy, or open minded, or indecisive, but we really have no “grand plan” for the lot.  As many of you know we also own the Surfside Hotel. It became apparent in 2019 that we needed some overflow parking and a location for guest activities, so we bought the lot next door. Seems a waste to make such a beautiful lot all parking so we split it to 1/2 parking and 1/2 open space.

Anyway, our intent is to continue to evaluate uses for the site. To date, we have held road races and polar plunges for local charities, hosted family movie nights, music, family tie dye events, birthday parties, etc… We have booked weddings for this Fall.  

Bike rentals should have been here by now but like many things these days they are delayed. We are evaluating Kayak rentals, kiteboard lessons, pop up shops, etc.

There is currently beach yoga, cornhole tournaments, even a guy doing boxing and kids karate lessons on Sunday mornings. Next week we’ll have the Fathers Day Olympics with bocce, etc.

And of course, there is the big and scary….

“LOBSTER SHACK/ICE CREAM STAND”

I am not sure that if the anonymous memorandum referred to the current operation as a “lobster shack” or “ice cream stand” it would be as headline worthy as “beer garden”, but yes there is a service bar and ice cream stand over there now and (once the price of lobster normalizes) there will be a lobster shack. You should be able to walk, bike, or wander over and enjoy a Two Roads or Athletic beer with your hot or cold lobster roll. Or a bottle of spring water. Or a Pepsi. Or a nicely chilled Rose. Come by and get the kids some Micalizzi’s Italian Ice or ice cream.  

PARKING AND FACILITIES

There is adequate parking onsite for any visitors. There are adequate restroom facilities onsite for any visitors.

UPDATE JUNE 17th

I’ve been having productive meetings with neighbors all week to listen to concerns and discuss ideas. It’s been great meeting everyone and seeing that we do in fact share common ground with a majority of the neighborhood.  Thanks again for those of you that came out, reached out, or simply offered words of support and encouragement.

One item that came up continuously (both pro and con)- and one that seems to be the crux of many of the toxic social media posts/anonymous memos/June 9 meeting notes (more on those later)- is the use of the term “Beer Garden”.  I’m not sure where or from whom the marriage of “Beer Garden” and our lot originated but the reality is that we have sold more ice cream and food than beer in the lot.

I realize Beer Garden gets more eyeballs than Ice Cream Stand, and it was suggested to me by several neighbors that the best way to reduce confusion and anxiety was to name the lot. So, we’re giving the lot a working title of Seawall Park. Progress!

UPDATE JUNE 22

Over the past week we have met with and listened to scores of your fellow residents who are showing overwhelming support and sharing great ideas for Seawall Park.

Our original plan was to test and evaluate uses for Seawall Park this Summer, conclude on best layout and usage, and then develop and submit formal plans for approval. Given post-COVID related staffing and supply chain issues comprehensive testing and evaluation is going to be nearly impossible this summer. For example, we can’t get lobster to test out a lobster shack. Our rental bikes have been backordered since January. Even finding extra staff to work the operation is proving problematic.

To continue to explore uses for Seawall Park we have applied for a zoning change that would allow us to continue to evaluate potential uses. We can then evaluate food & beverage service/entertainment/paddleboard rental/pop up craft shops, etc. over time and see what the best fits for the park and the neighborhood would be.

The zoning meeting is tomorrow night. If you’d like to help and add your support, send an email to [email protected] and we’ll tell you the best way to support Seawall Park and truly make it Seawall For All.

#seawall4all