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Turkey Vote Is Thursday; Protest Is Planned

The East Hampton Town Board is expected to pass a resolution Thursday regarding an additional turkey hunting season, which would span May 1 to May 25 this year. Ahead of the 2 p.m. meeting, a protest at Town Hall will be staged by the East Hampton Group for Wildlife.

Apr 5, 2023
Gardella Eyes Sag Harbor Mayor's Seat as Larocca Bows Out

The mayoral election in Sag Harbor is June 20 and the race, or perhaps lack thereof, is becoming clearer. Last week, Mayor James Larocca announced in a staff meeting that he would not be seeking re-election, and on Monday, Thomas Gardella, the current deputy mayor, confirmed that he will be running for mayor.

Apr 3, 2023
A Wrinkle in the Town Code

A puzzle of an application involving two adjacent parcels, a bunch of portable restrooms, access to them, and a house in a commercial neighborhood came before the East Hampton Town Planning Board this month. The immediate issue is that the house, even though it is on a commercially zoned lot, is the parcel’s only legal use (though it pre-exists town zoning and is classed as nonconforming).

Mar 30, 2023
Ditch Plain Neighbors Push Back

On paper, a 2,379-square-foot house on the South Fork may not seem outlandish, but place that house on a .17-acre lot in a flood zone with a raised swimming pool and decking in the middle of Ditch Plain in Montauk, and both neighbors and town planners have a problem.

Mar 30, 2023
East Hampton Town Seeks Volunteer Plover Watchers

Beachgoers will soon see temporary string fencing at sites along 18 miles of ocean and bay shoreline, as the federally and New York State-protected piping plover makes its annual return to East Hampton Town and Village.

Anna Soccorsi of the Natural Resources Department told the town board on March 21 that it is seeking seasonal volunteers to monitor sites where the shorebirds nest, the better to assist conservation efforts of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Mar 30, 2023
On Water Testing for 2023

The East Hampton Town Trustees voted on Monday to allocate $83,160 for the 2023 water quality and bottomlands assessment of waters under their jurisdiction.

Mar 30, 2023
Planning a No Fling Spring

The East Hampton Town litter action committee will launch a monthlong No Fling Spring initiative on Earth Day with a cleanup of Springs-Fireplace Road. Beach cleanups and a No Fling Spring Fling dance party in May are also on the agenda.

Mar 30, 2023
Proposed Self-Storage Facility Called ‘Monstrosity of Coverage’

Owners of the third-largest commercial building in East Hampton Town, the Home Sweet Home warehouse in Wainscott, want to convert it into a self-storage facility, but town planners want to see a smaller building with more space for parking, among other things.

Mar 30, 2023
Brooks-Park Restoration Would Be Costly but ‘Worth It’

After a long-anticipated historical and architectural assessment of the Springs house and studios of the late Abstract Expressionist artists James Brooks and Charlotte Park was delivered to the East Hampton Town Board on Tuesday, the board signaled that it was ready to embrace the site’s restoration and conversion into an arts and nature center.

Mar 23, 2023
Carissa’s Lot Merger Hits a ‘Sanitary Flow Dam’

Don’t call it an expansion, but Carissa’s Bakery at 221 Pantigo Road in East Hampton needs a little more elbow room — and parking.

Mar 23, 2023
Foiled Again in Truck Beach Suits

The New York State Supreme Court has once again sided with property owners along a 4,000-foot stretch of Napeague oceanfront popularly known as Truck Beach, granting five property owners associations’ motions to dismiss separate complaints by East Hampton Town and the town trustees, along with a dozen fishermen.

Mar 23, 2023
Herrick Park Makeover Begins Soon

A temporary fence could be installed as early as this week around parts of Herrick Park in East Hampton Village, where renovations to the tennis courts and softball field are set to begin on April 1. Work is expected to conclude no later than June 15.

Mar 23, 2023
Housing Committee Formed

The East Hampton Town Board has appointed an advisory committee to review potential affordable housing initiatives and make recommendations to the town board, following the town’s recently adopted Community Housing Opportunity Fund Project Plan.

Mar 23, 2023
Its Nightclub Days May Be Over

For at least 50 years the property at 44 Three Mile Harbor Road has operated as a nightclub — Leo, Philippe, SL East, NV Tsunami, way back when a place called the Jag, and even before that Mellowmouth — but its owner wants to convert the 5,000-square-foot one-story stucco building into a mix of retail, office, and affordable housing units. The town planning board will hold a hearing on the proposal in April.

Mar 23, 2023
LaLota Bill Backs Plum Island

Representative Nick LaLota of the First Congressional District has formally proposed legislation to declare Plum Island a national monument under the 1906 Antiquities Act. His bill, known as H.B. 1584, emphasizes the need for “ecological conservation, historical preservation, and the discovery and celebration of our shared cultural heritage.”

Mar 23, 2023
Parameters of Airport Study Almost Set

The effort to impose restrictions on aircraft at East Hampton Town Airport took another incremental step forward on Tuesday when consultants presented the town board with the scope for a draft environmental impact statement that reflects input from the public and the board.

Mar 23, 2023
Seeking Seniors’ Comments

East Hampton Town and New York State would like comments from residents 60 years of age and older for a comprehensive survey of older adults, the director of the town’s Human Services Department said on Tuesday.

Mar 23, 2023
Town Pans Gov. Hochul’s Housing Plan

The New York Housing Compact, the governor's plan to address a housing shortage by building 800,000 new residences over the next decade, is a heavy-handed approach that would be wholly incompatible with East Hampton Town, according to the town planning director. Another planner described it to the town board as an “all sticks and no carrots” approach to solving the housing crisis.

Mar 23, 2023
‘Forever Chemicals’ Announcement Resonates in Wainscott

In the wake of the federal government’s announcement last week that utilities will be required to reduce levels of toxic “forever chemicals” in drinking water to almost zero, residents of Wainscott are using that news to press opposition to both the South Fork Wind farm and the proposed Wainscott Commercial Center.

Mar 23, 2023
A Fight for the Soul of the East Hampton Ambulance

A boisterous group of 40-plus ambulance volunteers, many from the East Hampton Village Ambulance Association but some "mutually aided" from nearby departments, showed up at the East Hampton Village Board meeting on Friday to speak out against a plan that would have the ambulance association come under village control.

Mar 17, 2023
A Largely Positive Water Quality Report

Most waters under East Hampton Town Trustee jurisdiction were usually healthy in 2022, the trustees were told on Monday, but the consequences of land use continue to impair some water bodies in the form of excessive nitrogen via ground and surface water runoff.

Mar 16, 2023
Ambulance Volunteers Exit as East Hampton Village Seeks Control

Nearly a quarter of the East Hampton Village Ambulance Association’s volunteer corps has resigned since the East Hampton Village Board introduced a plan on March 2 to create a new Department of Emergency Medical Services to oversee the ambulance service.

Mar 16, 2023
Can't Unring the Bell at St. Peter's Chapel

The East Hampton Town Planning Board was left with two bad options for a cell tower at the tiny St. Peter’s Chapel in Springs, and a litigation-imposed mandate to choose one by April 24. Cingular Wireless, operating as AT&T, requires approval of a special permit from the board to go ahead with construction.

Mar 16, 2023
Delay Vote on Turkey Hunt

The East Hampton Town Board will not vote on a resolution regarding a May turkey hunt before April 6, the board said on Tuesday.

Mar 16, 2023
Dominy Clocks, Buell Wig: East Hampton Historical Society Needs Bigger Barn for Collection

The East Hampton Historical Society is seeking a special permit and several variances from the village zoning board of appeals to bring 2023-level technology to a new barn at the Mulford Farm that would house its growing collection of historical artifacts.

Mar 16, 2023
Erosion Threatens Blufftop Trails in Montauk

History is repeating itself on Montauk’s ocean shoreline, where erosion has once again prompted officials in East Hampton Town’s Land Management Department to recommend a landward rerouting of bluff trails in Shadmoor State Park and the adjacent Rheinstein Nature Preserve.

Mar 16, 2023
New Hurdles for Wainscott Commercial Center

The proposed Wainscott Commercial Center has had a series of setbacks in recent weeks, most recently and perhaps most importantly on Tuesday night, when the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals was unanimous in its decision that a special permit was required for the planned industrial park proposed for the spent sand mine.

Mar 16, 2023
Town Wants Your Help on Renewable Energy Survey

East Hampton Town is about to solicit participation in a public survey regarding the town’s goal to derive communitywide energy needs through renewable sources by 2030.

Mar 16, 2023
East Hampton Town to Sue Condo Complex

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.

Mar 9, 2023
Hither Woods Coalition Is Watching

Richard Whalen, an Amagansett attorney and the founder of the Coalition for Hither Woods, told board members the group will continue to support the town in its efforts to improve Montauk’s environment, but will oppose any encroachment on the hamlet’s parks.

Mar 9, 2023