Home Is an Unheated Shed

A man who has been living throughout the frigid winter in an unheated shed in East Hampton without plumbing or other facilities called town authorities last week to report his living conditions.

According to East Hampton officials, the man’s landlord has been accepting $400 a month from the Suffolk County Department of Social Services to provide housing for him.

Approximately 10 summonses were issued to Luz Lopez Vargas for violations of health, safety, and zoning codes, Betsy Bambrick, the head of East Hampton’s Ordinance Enforcement Department, said Tuesday. More may be forthcoming. A March 17 court date was set.

Property records list the owner of the site as Luz Sanchez.

Willman Sanchez, who was in the hospital this week, reportedly lived for more than six months in the shed on a .61-acre property at 133 Middle Highway, where an imposing two-story house looms behind a screen of tall evergreens and a fence obscures the yard where the man, who is in his mid-50s, dwelled. Mr. Sanchez told investigators that his landlord occupies the main house.

It was unclear if the two are related. Calls to Luz Sanchez and to an attorney representing him were not returned by press time.

“It was pretty egregious,” said David Betts, the head of the town’s Division of Public Safety. Mr. Sanchez was using space heaters plugged into extension cords, with a lack of proper wiring — “an accident just waiting to happen,” Mr. Betts said.

Ms. Bambrick said that officers have seen similar living conditions before in East Hampton, “but to have it happen this particular winter. . . .”

The Department of Social Services is also investigating the matter, Mr. Betts said.