Protestors Object To Hotel’s Hampton Inn Switch

Artist rendering of planned new Hampton Inn where the Old Town Hall is located in Huntington Village.

A crowd of speakers endured a lengthy town board meeting Tuesday and made it even lengthier as they lined up to take their turns at the microphone and urged the board to withhold approval needed for development of the old town hall as a hotel.

The board was scheduled to vote on is- suing a certificate of approval in a historic district, a final step necessary before the hotel developer can go for building permits.

Protesters, many waving bright yellow signs that read , “No Vacancy, Huntington is Full,” and “Preserve Huntington Village. No Hampton Inn,” among other sentiments, urged to vote no.

Speakers raised concerns about over-development, congestion and parking issues, and many raised eyebrows over what they felt was a lack of transparency concerning the project. In particular, many objected to the recent revelation that the now-80 room project would be operated as a Hampton Inn. Some felt they were hoodwinked.

“When someone says ‘boutique hotel,’ is Hampton Inn what comes to mind?” asked Huntington resident Bob Souter.

He compared the last minute announcement to what one might feel using a dating app when the person who shows up for your date is not what was pictured.

“We were blindsided when it was revealed the plans had morphed into an 80 room Hampton Inn monster,” Barbara Souter said.

Plans for redeveloping the old town hall building at Main Street and Stewart Avenue originally called for a 55-room hotel. Developer George Tsunis upped it to 80 rooms when he acquired the prop- erty in 2018. The project received approval from the Huntington Historic Commission and variances from the zoning board of appeals, including for parking. The board voted Tuesday to grant the certificate of approval.