Village Questions Use of Mitchell Park for San Simeon Fundraiser

The Greenport Village Board once again is discussing appropriate uses for Mitchell Park, after San Simeon By the Sound filed for a mass public assembly permit to hold their annual fundraising gala in the park next summer.

San Simeon held their and Trustee Mary Bess Phillips said the board has not come up with a plan yet for park use by nonprofit and charity groups. She said she was not ready to approve a permit for San Simeon.

Earlier this year the village was approached by the Greenport Farmers’ Market and St. Anargiyroi and Taxiarhis Greek Orthodox Church to hold events in Mitchell Park over the summer. The board declined both requests for park use. 

Mayor David Nyce said he has attended three San Simeon fundraising galas and they have never been at the same location. He said permitting San Simeon to hold the event at Mitchell Park might not be the way to go.

“If we allow San Simeon to host the event there, we have to allow every nonprofit to do it,” said Trustee David Murray.

Murray said if the village granted the permit to San Simeon, they could have organizations using the park every weekend. He said he wanted to make sure the residents still had access to the park.

“I’m against it,” Murray said.

Nyce said he understood the park was an attraction for the village and that when events are held there, people patronize downtown businesses.

Trustee George Hubbard said he also did not support granting the permit. He said San Simeon could raise a "substantial amount of money at our cost" and said he did not think a public park on a Saturday night was the appropriate venue for a fundraiser.

“We’ll put it on the agenda and vote it up or down,” Nyce said. “They will have plenty of time to find another venue.”

The resolution for the mass assembly permit is on the agenda for the Monday, Nov. 28 meeting.