Skip to main content

Plea for a Building Break

Wed, 09/08/2021 - 15:29

Citing the proliferation in recent years of "extremely large houses" looming over and destroying the privacy of their neighbors, the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee asked the East Hampton Town Board at its meeting on Tuesday to strengthen the town code, particularly as to setbacks and the pyramid law, and to impose a moratorium on building permits and on "the many subdivisions that are occurring in all East Hampton hamlets and especially in Amagansett."

In a letter to the board, the committee argued that gross floor area and coverage requirements are "much more liberal" here than in surrounding towns, and recommended that the town "stop house sizes at 4,000 square feet." A moratorium, it said, would "prevent property owners from making a mad dash for building permits under the current rules."

The committee asked also that more specific standards be set as "guidelines" for the planning, zoning, and architectural review boards, and suggested that the board create an overlay district in the hamlet's lanes and in BeachHampton. Those areas "are being developed as never before," it said.

Villages

A Town Lifeguard Signs Off at 84

Just shy of his 85th birthday, Dick Monahan, a lifeguard at Kirk Park in Montauk, will hang up his whistle at the end of this season.

Sep 10, 2026

‘Were It Not for September 11’

Were it not for Sept. 11, 2001, you’d not be reading these words. I’d still be living in the city and might never have become a writer.

Sep 10, 2026

Item of the Week: David H. Huntting’s 1874 Address

On May 26, 1874, David H. Huntting (1815-1885) gave an address to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the First Presbyterian Church of East Hampton’s Sunday school.

Sep 10, 2026

 

Your support for The East Hampton Star helps us deliver the news, arts, and community information you need. Whether you are an online subscriber, get the paper in the mail, delivered to your door in Manhattan, or are just passing through, every reader counts. We value you for being part of The Star family.

Your subscription to The Star does more than get you great arts, news, sports, and outdoors stories. It makes everything we do possible.