East Hampton Town is suing Ranch Mtk L.L.C., controlled by Max Levai, in State Supreme Court over the “unlawful construction and maintenance of an unpermitted structure” at the Old Montauk Highway art space commonly referred to as The Ranch.
The suit follows a town board resolution passed 4 to 1 on July 7 that authorized Jake Turner, the town attorney, to commence the legal action. Councilman Tom Flight, a Montauk resident, was the dissenting vote.
“Going after art on private land, even with the agricultural easement, is just not something I can get behind,” Mr. Flight said by text. He added that the farmer on the land indicated there’s no interference with his farming operations. “Is this really the best use of our resources?”
The structure, a 60-foot-tall sculpture by the artist Matt Johnson titled “Meditating Figure,” uses 12 decommissioned shipping containers to create a character sitting in the lotus position. It’s part of a larger exhibition at The Ranch called “LA Monumental.”
The town wants it removed and the land restored “to be fit for agricultural production.” It was set to remain until the end of the season, Mr. Levai told The Star a month ago.
The town’s main issue is that the art installation is resting in a part of the 26-acre parcel on which the town has owned the development rights since 1983. Part of the agreement permanently restricts the use of the plot to agricultural production only.
However, the town also says that the sculpture was constructed without a valid building permit.
“As a result of Defendant’s unlawful conduct, Plaintiff has suffered and continues to suffer injury, and the public interest in the enforcement of building permit requirements and agricultural land protection has been harmed,” reads the complaint written by Mr. Turner.
“The public interest strongly favors the enforcement of building permit requirements and the protection of agriculturally restricted land from non-agricultural development,” it continues.
The lawsuit is interesting in part because it shows Mr. Turner aggressively going after a temporary, though highly visible, art installation, while just a year ago the town opted not to litigate when the owner of 370 and 372 Further Lane planted a permanent hedge blocking the view of a decades-old scenic and agricultural easement.
“I find it strange that the town is going after an art installation on preserved farmland that is being actively used for agriculture,” Richard Whalen, the attorney for Mr. Levai, wrote in a text. “We have a lot of protected farmland in East Hampton that has been completely taken out of agricultural production.”
