Government

The East Hampton Town Board is considering allowing multi-unit residences on housing lots as small as half an acre, which would include an increase of parcels in the town’s affordable housing overlay district and a revision of the town code. Right now, multi-unit dwellings are only allowed in those districts on lots that are over three acres.

The nature of the discourse Saturday, when the executive director of the East Hampton Housing Authority discussed a forthcoming housing development on Route 114 in Wainscott with the hamlet's citizens advisory committee, was markedly different from discussions on affordable housing in the Wainscott School District that took place a decade ago.

Not in the Amagansett Historic District. That was the clear message sent by the East Hampton Town Planning Board to the owner and lessee of the Amagansett Mobil station, who are looking to add a Bolla convenience store and Tim Horton's coffee and takeout shop to the site. 

Proposed legislation to change the maximum gross floor area calculation for residences in East Hampton Town divided the town's seven-member planning board last week, and no consensus was reached as the town board prepares for a Thursday evening hearing on the change. 

In a draft capital plan presented to the East Hampton Town Board last week, there are mobile tower lights and new gun holsters for police; a new vehicle for Marine Patrol and an electronic upgrade for one of its boats; a new dump truck, tree trimmer, plows, and drainage systems for the Highway Department. For the Parks Department, soccer goals, basketball courts, and, of course — because it’s 2025 — new pickleball courts.

“I think it’s safe to say that in the last year, the hours we’re spending on special events, the cost is not being met by the revenues that are coming in,” East Hampton Town Councilman Tom Flight said as the town board discussed increasing those fees, most of which have not been updated since 2018.

Perhaps lost in the discussion over the 22,000-square-foot Center for Modern Aging and Human Services planned for Abraham’s Path in Amagansett has been the human services element of the project. The department would occupy nearly a third of the fidget-spinner-shaped building. A recent visit to its current home, across the parking lot from the senior citizens center on Springs-Fireplace Road, makes clear that an upgrade is not an outlandish request.

East Hampton Village has tried to settle a lawsuit with David Ganz, a village resident who had his parking pass for Lot 1 revoked after the village said he drove recklessly and damaged property at the beach. Mr. Ganz is standing firm and in February filed new papers including videos taken from cameras affixed to the Main Beach pavilion.

Five progressive Long Island groups and town Democrats rally to be heard by Representative Nick LaLota at town hall-style meetings that are open to the public and not controlled or managed. His answer? There’s a tele-town hall coming on March 5.

The League of Women Voters will host an online debate Monday night at 7 for candidates who are seeking to fill the seat on the Southampton Town Board left open when Tommy John Schiavoni was elected to the New York State Assembly.

Farmers in Wainscott spoke up at a recent East Hampton Town Board meeting to mostly reject a proposal for traffic-calming tools put forth by the Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee, saying it would create difficulties and unsafe driving conditions for their farm vehicles and other cars and trucks on those very roadways.

Those who have driven through the intersection of Route 114 and Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton may have noticed about 15 traffic lights dangling above. They are part of the ongoing construction at the site, which was scheduled to be finished this month but is now expected to continue into the summer.

The East Hampton Village Board this week discussed a proposed public hearing on a new law that would shift the onus of notifying neighbors who live within 200 feet of an applicant’s property to the applicants, rather than the village. The proposal sparked a letter of objection from Leonard Ackerman, a lawyer and longtime village resident. 

The work being done to respond to damage from the southern pine beetle on Napeague and in Hither Hills State Parks will continue over the course of “several winters,” according to Lynn Bogan, assistant deputy director for stewardship at the New York State Department of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation.

East Hampton Town is looking to settle with the plaintiffs who sued to block its attempt to close the town airport in 2022 and reopen it with restrictions meant to address town residents’ years of complaints, Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez announced at a town board work session Tuesday.

“That was a journey down a rabbit hole,” Ed Johann, a member of the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals, said after an exhaustive discussion regarding the redevelopment of the Devon Yacht Club split the board last week.

As emergency dredging of the Lake Montauk Inlet to a depth of 12 feet officially got underway this week, Representative Nick LaLota on Tuesday confirmed that plans are still on to dredge the inlet to a full depth of 17 feet later this year. "Local projects like this are exactly what we need to get the return on investment of our federal tax dollars," Mr. LaLota said.

The East Hampton Town Democrats are organizing a demonstration to demand that Representative Nick LaLota hold in-person town hall meetings. The demonstration is planned for Tuesday morning in Montauk, during a press conference about the emergency dredging of the Montauk Inlet, which began over the weekend. 

The Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee voted unanimously to write a letter to the East Hampton Town Board calling for the historic preservation of the entire 30-acre property at 66 Main Street, which the town purchased for $56 million last year with community preservation money.

The Peconic Estuary Partnership, which was to receive $2.7 million in federal funding toward projects that include a $200,000 stormwater mitigation effort in Sag Harbor and $100,000 of wetlands work in Southampton, is now unsure if that funding will be available following an executive order by the Trump administration that froze billions in federal grants.

The East Hampton Town Board, after debating the merits of a handful of formulas to rein in house size, settled on a compromise to take to the public in a hearing on March 6: capping houses’ gross floor area to 7 percent of their lot area plus 1,500 square feet.

East Hampton Town Board members discussed how they could further regulate parking in Montauk to create more turnover in the commercial district, allow for better enforcement, and discourage abandoned cars.

Thomas Gardella has announced his intention to seek a second two-year term as Sag Harbor Village mayor, citing in particular his contributions to environmental work.

After news last week from the East Hampton Town Board that the Lake Montauk Inlet could undergo emergency dredging by the end of the month, Representative Nick LaLota confirmed Friday that "he has secured a commitment" from the Army Corps of Engineers to begin the work "as early as February 14." 

To mitigate coastal erosion, Southampton Town has contracted the largest dredging company in the United States to place 1.2 million cubic yards of sand along a stretch of coastline between Bridgehampton and Sagaponack, following a referendum within the beach erosion control districts.

A new application for a house in the dunes on Beach Lane in Wainscott seeks to stand the test of time, and will be built to “velocity flood standards,” with a raised first floor over “breakaway walls” that will allow water to flow underneath it “if we ever hit that 100-year storm.” That aspect pleased town planners but upset neighbors.

At the top of the ticket, Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez got the uncontested nod, along with both Councilwoman Cate Rogers, first elected in 2021, and Councilman Ian Calder-Piedmonte, fresh off his first year on the job. And Michael Hansen was nominated to run for town clerk, following Carole Brennan's announcement that she will retire after more than a decade in the post.

Gerard Drive, regarded as one of the more environmentally sensitive areas in East Hampton Town, jutting out as it does into Gardiner’s Bay and protecting Accabonac Harbor, has only one pool along its 1.4-mile length. Soon there will be another.

At its Jan. 14 meeting, the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals approved a pool, additions that would add a second story and more than double the size of an existing house, and a natural resources special permit for the property at 101 Gerard Drive.

An emotional East Hampton Town Board meeting Tuesday began with a two-hour public outpouring of support for the Latino community, mixed with confusion and countless questions about what ordinary people can do in the face of deportation threats from the Trump administration. Later, East Hampton and Sag Harbor Village officials and the East Hampton School District superintendent held a press conference emphasizing that all people should feel safe going to school or calling police and emergency personnel.

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation will hold a public meeting next Thursday at 6 p.m. at Montauk Downs State Park to discuss emergency work being completed at Napeague and Hither Hills State Parks in response to the southern pine beetle infestation.