In a little over a year, East Hampton Town's Zoning Code Amendment Working Group has walked a tightrope between business interests, builders, real estate people, and others who fear over-restrictive zoning, and those who want the code strengthened to preserve what they say is a town that is quickly losing, or has already lost, its character. In the process of deciding what to change, compromise has begun to emerge.
How do village lifeguards do mornings? With gusto. “We’re the first line between the E.M.S. and the Police Department. We have to be versed in everything,” said Drew Smith, chief of the East Hampton Village guards, who gave The Star a glimpse into their daily operations.
“Shall we have a hook and ladder co.?” asked “A Native” in an 1886 East Hampton Star letter to the editor. “Your village has never suffered seriously from the ravages of the fire-fiend,” the letter warned. A year later, William S. Everett built East Hampton’s first hook and ladder truck, launching the journey of the East Hampton Fire Department, which celebrates its 125th anniversary this year.
A new zoning concept introduced at Tuesday's East Hampton Town Board work session would allow local businesses to house their workers in a multiunit development, with the employers owning the units and renting them to the employees.
