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Government

A ‘Small Cell’ Solution to Improve Poor Service

Nearly 200 “small cell” towers, each 42 feet tall, will be deployed across East Hampton Town, with over 150 slotted for Northwest Woods and Springs alone. The large majority, 129, could be operational by the end of the year.

May 22, 2025
Empire Wind 1 Can Now Proceed

The whiplash resulting from policies announced and quickly reversed by the Trump administration continued this week with the surprise announcement that construction of the Empire Wind 1 offshore wind farm, which was halted last month by a stop-work order issued by the secretary of the Department of the Interior, could resume.

May 22, 2025
House-Passed Spending Bill Raises SALT Deduction

The United States House of Representatives passed President Trump's spending bill early Thursday, sending it along to the Senate. In it is a quadrupling of the cap on the State and Local Tax deduction, known colloquially as the SALT deduction, which Representative Nick LaLota said in a press release early Thursday is "a significant win for Long Island taxpayers."

May 22, 2025
Montauk Playhouse Renovations Are Almost Done

“This is a town project that’s on time and under budget,” said Maureen Cahill, a board member of the Montauk Community Playhouse Foundation, where a new aquatic and cultural center is on track to open before summer’s end. “It’s a really good model of town, state, and private funding that put this together. Without those three it doesn’t work.”

May 22, 2025
New Attorneys at Town Hall

Trevor Darrell has been appointed East Hampton Town’s prosecutor, and Brittany Toledano has been hired as deputy town attorney, both effective as of Monday, according to a statement issued from Town Hall this week.

May 22, 2025
Pushback Over Plan to Remove Navigation Aids

Word that the United States Coast Guard has proposed to remove hundreds of navigational markers along the Northeast coast, including buoys, day beacons, and lights, is drawing a mostly negative reaction among mariners in East Hampton Town, with commercial fishermen and others warning that their removal would worsen already dangerous conditions.

May 15, 2025
Roundabout Opens at Stephen Hand’s and Long Lane

A long-discussed roundabout at the intersection of Stephen Hand’s Path, Long Lane, and Two Holes of Water Road in East Hampton has begun operating, despite the continuation of work on the inside part of the circle.

May 15, 2025
Town Beaches Opening Soon

Some ocean beaches, including Indian Wells and Atlantic Avenue in Amagansett and South Edison and Ditch Plain in Montauk, will be staffed by lifeguards beginning on Saturday, May 24, during the Memorial Day weekend, as will Big Albert’s on the bay in Amagansett. They will remain open on weekends until mid-June, when all beaches will be staffed full time.

May 15, 2025
Windmill Village Hopes to Add More Units

With a $338,000 grant from the East Hampton Town Community Housing Fund to help cover “soft costs,” the Windmill I senior citizen housing development is honing plans to add 20 new units to its property on Accabonac Road.

May 15, 2025
Yes to Eelgrass Transplant

The East Hampton Town Trustees heard and approved a request by South Fork Sea Farmers, a nonprofit educational arm of the town’s shellfish hatchery and its community oyster garden program, to implement a program aiming to establish eelgrass meadows in Accabonac Harbor. 

May 15, 2025
A New Applications Portal

OpenGov, software powering payments, permitting, and licensing on the Town of East Hampton’s website, is now open for business.

May 8, 2025
An Old-New Home for Human Resources

The East Hampton Town Board has decided it’s time to restore the historic Peach House, which lies about a peach’s throw from the board’s own meeting room. The renovation could begin this fall and be completed by May 2026, at which time it will house three town offices and a reception area.

May 8, 2025
Ideas Abound for Village’s Future

Removing an eastbound lane on Main Street, reconfiguring the Reutershan parking lot, and redevelopment of the Gingerbread Lane/Railroad Avenue district were among the ideas voiced during a virtual workshop on an update to East Hampton Village’s comprehensive plan.

May 8, 2025
New Code Enforcement Director Urges Patience

As the summer season draws closer, East Hampton Town’s new director of the Ordinance Enforcement Department is urging residents to remember the words “assurance” and “patience” when registering complaints about code violations.

May 8, 2025
Town May Make Outdoor Dining Permanent

The East Hampton Town Board seems inclined to extend a Covid-era outdoor dining pilot program, which expired at the end of December, for another three-plus years and possibly to make it permanent.

May 8, 2025
Town Ponders Updated Rules for Nature Preserves

A hearing held by the East Hampton Town Board about a community preservation fund acquisition at 351 Old Stone Highway in Springs highlighted the need for a subsequent discussion about changes to the town code regarding nature preserves. Legislation governing nature preserves was written in 1991, before creation of the community preservation fund or even the town’s Land Acquisition and Management Department.

May 8, 2025
Devon Review Moves Forward

The East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals agreed last week to send a nonbinding letter of potential approval to the town planning board regarding 20 variances required for a major rebuild of the Devon Yacht Club that has been making its way through the town’s review boards for the better part of three years.

May 1, 2025
Ethics Questions: How Much and How Many?

At present, elected officials and employees of East Hampton Town are not allowed to accept a ticket to an event that is priced at over $75. The East Hampton Town Board is considering amending its code of ethics to allow its officers and employees to accept such tickets no matter what the value, and further allow them to accept one complimentary ticket for a guest.

May 1, 2025
On Horseshoe Crabs and Largest Clams

Horseshoe crabs and clams were the primary topics of discussion at an East Hampton Town Trustees meeting, as the trustees looked ahead to an annual horseshoe crab monitoring program in a few weeks and set a date for their annual Largest Clam Contest in the fall.

May 1, 2025
Septic Grants for Two Springs Eateries

Two Springs ports of call, Rita Cantina and the Springs General Store (which hopes to be open by next summer), have been recommended by East Hampton Town’s new water quality technical advisory committee for sizable grants to upgrade their septic systems.

May 1, 2025
Turning to Science in Pine Beetle Fight

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine called it an “aha moment” — an awakening after the Westhampton Pines fire on March 14. He’d had enough of the devastation caused by the southern pine beetle across the county he leads, and he wanted to do something about it.

May 1, 2025
Amagansett Citizens Ponder the Public Interest

Rona Klopman, chairwoman of the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee, began its meeting Monday night by addressing a recent East Hampton Town Board proposal to bypass planning and zoning regulations when weighing a project’s benefits to the community against its impacts on the environment.

Apr 24, 2025
Can Macklowe Finally Sell?

It was a phragmites-removal project that turned bad and devolved into a six-year war between East Hampton Village and the billionaire real estate developer Harry Macklowe. Now, with a new application that will be presented to the village’s zoning board of appeals on May 9, Mr. Macklowe is attempting to put it all to bed.

Apr 24, 2025
Feds Move to Halt Offshore Wind

The future of offshore wind power in New York State and throughout the United States was thrown into question last week as the Trump administration’s interior secretary ordered a halt to construction of the 810-megawatt Empire Wind 1 project, which was to span 80,000 acres in the New York Bight and send renewable electricity to New York City.

Apr 24, 2025
Few Republican Challengers on the 2025 Slate

Republicans may be in control now in Washington, D.C., but it’s a different story in East Hampton Town, where the chairman of the Republican Committee confirmed this week that his party will not be running a candidate for supervisor and that only one of its candidates for town board will be actively campaigning.

Apr 24, 2025
New Hires and New Titles in East Hampton Town

East Hampton Town announced the hiring of two new department heads last week, including a new director of code enforcement, Marty Culloton, and a new town attorney, hired from within, Jake Turner.

Apr 24, 2025
Potter Project Gets a Hearing

A hearing Tuesday on the draft environmental impact statement for the 81,257-square-foot building Adam Potter is planning in Sag Harbor drew a number of critics, but also several supporters who spoke of the urgency of affordable housing.

Apr 24, 2025
Town Holds Off on 'Community Resource' Hearing

After coming under criticism for a proposal to broadly exempt town projects from the town zoning code if they are deemed "community resources," the East Hampton Town Board tabled a resolution to hold a public hearing on the matter.

Apr 21, 2025
Critics Fear a Settlement in Airport Suit

Two themes were apparent when over half a dozen people turned up at an East Hampton Town Board meeting this week: consternation that the town would soon settle a lawsuit brought after the board attempted to close the airport in 2022 and immediately reopen it with restrictions, and threats that a settlement would ultimately hurt the board members at the ballot box.

Apr 17, 2025
Gun Club Opponents Want to Be Heard

East Hampton Town and the Maidstone Gun Club in Wainscott, which has been shuttered since August 2022, may be close to renewing a lease for the 97-acre property despite litigation brought by several residents who say that errant bullets fired from the private club have hit their houses, posing a threat to their very lives.

Apr 17, 2025