After two stop-work orders were either ignored or slow-rolled earlier this year, the Town of East Hampton is suing The Landings in Montauk, a marina-condo complex located at 408 West Lake Drive, alleging that the complex has exceeded construction-related approvals and committed other violations of the town zoning code.
Last week the town board authorized the town attorney to “initiate, prosecute, and resolve a legal action,” alleging among other things that The Landings has been undertaking renovations without a building permit.
The stop-work order, which was signed by Kevin Cooper of the ordinance enforcement department, highlights in thick black Sharpie-type text that no work is to be undertaken on “cottages, slips, the dock,” or on bottomlands in Lake Montauk.
A first stop-work order, issued in January, was not heeded, but the second, from Feb. 23, apparently led to a halt in work.
The lawsuit against the condo complex appears to be something of a blunt-force instrument designed to compel compliance with town building and zoning requirements. Absent a settlement, it would be taken up in State Supreme Court. East Hampton Town Justice Court does not have the jurisdictional authority to provide the relief sought by the town.
Joanne Pilgrim, executive assistant to Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc, told The Star this week that the board’s decision to go to court was made in consultation with, and at the request of, the town’s enforcement agencies. Since January, she said in an email, “there have been repeated alleged violations of a stop-work order . . . including the unauthorized expansion of a commercial dock.”
A call this week to The Landings’ business line was not picked up and did not give the option to leave a message.
