Government

Admonishing the owner of the Rita Cantina property at Maidstone Park in Springs to "be a good neighbor," the East Hampton Town Planning Board took a careful look at a site plan application for the property last month and found it "very deficient," in the words of the board's chairman, Samuel Kramer.

The wrecking ball is swinging, and the $1.4 million renovation and expansion project for the Lars Simenson Skatepark in Montauk is underway. The hope is that it can be finished by mid to late-summer.

In a move that could still alter the upcoming campaign for New York's First Congressional District, a Supreme Court Justice in Steuben County declared all of the state's recently redrawn legislative district maps unconstitutional. On Monday, however, an Appellate Division of State Supreme Court issued a stay at least temporarily keeping in place the district maps that had been prepared by the Democratic-dominated State Legislature, for the upcoming primary and general elections.

Water quality remediation was once again the primary topic on as the East Hampton Town Trustees looked favorably on several proposals aimed at improving impaired water bodies under their jurisdiction.  

Inlet Seafood, the popular seafood restaurant off East Lake Drive in Montauk, has asked the East Hampton Town Planning Board for what would appear to be a straightforward request — the addition of an 1,800-square-foot vinyl awning to accommodate some seasonal outdoor seating — but has run up against other issues that cast a proverbial shadow over the application.

The first blow to Long Beach's vegetation was struck long ago by Man, when a parking lot was laid a few hundred feet parallel to the shoreline, downwind of the prevailing wintertime northwesterlies — meaning it would always compete with blowing sand. Nature reclaimed some of that lot, and Man struck back, cleaning it up but also removing many native plants.

East Hampton Town's Covid-19 testing site at the former Child Development Center of the Hamptons on Stephen Hand's Path will continue operating at least through April 15, as concerns about the BA.2 subvariant and the upcoming April school break spark renewed interest in tests.

The East Hampton Town Board and all appointed boards that have not already done so will resume meeting in person as of next week.

A statement issued from East Hampton Town Hall last week indicated that the plan to deactivate East Hampton Airport on May 17 and reopen it as the private-use “East Hampton Town Airport” two days later is proceeding on schedule, but aviation interests continue to insist that the plan is unworkable if not illegal, while opponents of the airport say plans to restrict airport operations do not go far enough.

The East Hampton Town Trustees and 12 fishermen filed a class-action lawsuit last Thursday on behalf of themselves and all residents of the town, asserting that the five homeowners associations whose members’ deeds were determined to extend to the mean high water mark on a stretch of Napeague beach are unlawfully depriving them of access.

With plans in the works for bathrooms at the beach, the East Hampton Village Board is mulling where to put them and hammering out the fine details.

After years of planning and fund-raising, the East Hampton Village Board finally voted to approve the first phase of the renovation of Herrick Park. It will incorporate the southern portion of the park and includes the playing fields area.