Government

The New York State Division of Consumer Protection has notified all municipal government officials that a new law amending and clarifying the state’s existing credit card surcharge law went into effect on Sunday.

The long-running matter of Harry Macklowe’s Georgica Pond property was again before the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals on Friday, ending this time in a unanimous vote that is unlikely to satisfy the homeowner and will likely be appealed.

By a vote of 4 to 2, the East Hampton Town Planning Board resolved at its Feb. 7 meeting to hire an attorney to advise it on whether or not to seek "lead agency" status on the town’s proposed new senior citizens center. The East Hampton Town Board has said it plans to take the lead on that review process.

The first cruise ship to call Sag Harbor a stop on its itinerary will moor in sight of Long Wharf in three months. Officials are looking to ease the way.

The East Hampton Town Trustees agreed to permit a new approach to eelgrass restoration in Napeague Harbor, and authorized funding it, when the group met on Monday.

Long Island’s Indigenous communities are hailing a new set of long-overdue rules, established by the Biden administration effective Jan. 12, that have museums and universities across the country covering up or altogether closing exhibits containing Native American funerary displays and other artifacts, which now must either be returned to sovereign tribes for reburial or displayed only with the permission of those Indigenous communities.

The East Hampton Town Planning Board moved closer to approving plans for the Beckmann Commercial building in Montauk at its meeting last week. Dr. Molly is waiting to move in.

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. announced on Monday that he will not seek re-election to the New York State Assembly, signaling an impending conclusion to a 45-year career of public service in local and state government. 

Sand Land, a mine in Noyac that has been the subject of litigation and controversy for several years, appears to have ceased digging at its Middle Line Highway site and has relocated its retail operation to a facility on Montauk Highway in Wainscott.

The New York State Department of Transportation is now designing a new bridge to replace the one that spans the Long Island Rail Road track at the western end of Cranberry Hole Road in Amagansett, which has been closed to all vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists since July 1.

In a first step toward a major overhaul of its zoning code, the East Hampton Town Board voted to revise the “purposes” section of the town code pertaining to zoning at its meeting last Thursday. The resolution marks the first concrete step in a process that began nine months ago with the board’s formation of the zoning code amendment work group.

The East Hampton Town Board has held an initial discussion about potentially amending the town zoning code to allow existing residences in flood zones, as designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to be raised without their owners having to apply for a variance from the zoning board of appeals.