The East Hampton Town Board voted last Thursday to purchase land on Pantigo Road in East Hampton for $2.5 million. Seven of the 12 acres are earmarked for municipal purposes including housing, the remainder for park, recreation, or nature preserve. A bond resolution authorized in September will pay for the municipal portion of the property, and the community preservation fund will finance the rest.
According to town code, up to eight apartment units could be constructed per acre of land allotted to housing.
The property was put up for bid last month in a court-ordered auction, for which the town was the sole bidder. The land was jointly owned by members of the family of James Philips, and was sold as part of a bankruptcy proceeding involving one of the owners, according to court documents. The town had eyed the property for several years and had even tried to purchase it a few years ago, but it was “tied up in litigation,” according to Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc.
“This has been a 14-year-long odyssey,” Scott Wilson, the town’s director of land acquisition and management, said of the purchase during a public hearing last Thursday.
