Fast Action Needed In Crisis of Crowds

By any measure, East Hampton Town officials have a massive crisis on their hands. Forget about the airport. Forget about pollution of the waterways. At this moment, right now, it’s all about quality of life and a widely shared sense that Town Hall is not able to keep up.

With roadways, food markets, police, emergency services, and other necessities seemingly at or beyond capacity, residents, notably in Montauk, have had enough. At Monday’s citizens advisory committee meeting there, talk was even heard about organized civil disobedience to drive the point home that it’s nearly past time to get tough.

Town Hall, under the leadership of the current board, has been chipping around the edges when what is really needed is aggressive large-scale action to turn the tide. Of course chipping around the edges is a far cry better than what occurred in previous years, when the doctrinaire and self-satisfied Wilkinson-dominated board all but gave away the farm. For years, we have been saying that East Hampton Town was running the risk of becoming a place unfamiliar to those who call it home; many are now saying that day has come.

Getting the chaos under control will take a multi-pronged approach. Among the options should be to immediately institute a rental registry that provides for inspections and stiff penalties for violations of occupancy and turnover limits. It used to be that the roads, shops, and beaches were filled only on weekends and during those two weeks in August when it seemed everyone was on vacation. Not anymore. It is thought that short-term rentals facilitated by the online marketplaces are at least a significant part of the problem.

Legal remedies are necessary for the town to get serious. Think of the way the town acted against loud aircraft and out-of-town taxi companies. One approach should be to pursue a court injunction blocking Airbnb, HomeAway, and Vacation Rental by Owner, among others, from enabling prohibited multiple short-term rentals within the town. Officials should also forward the names and addresses of landlords suspected of running what are basically illegal businesses to the Internal Revenue Service and to Suffolk County, asking it to investigate whether any taxes are owed.

At the same time, the town must immediately and sharply increase enforcement personnel, with a particular focus on noise. The town sets decibel limits for readings taken at a property line; these should be taken seriously. Taxpayers might well support a town budget that puts residents’ peace and quiet as a top priority by hiring more seasonal ordinance enforcement and police personnel — and they should be asked. But in the meantime, existing officers have to be instructed to clamp down on the private use of public roadways and sidewalks, as well as the improper expansion of bar service to outdoor decks and private parking lots.

 The town could also apply a recently enacted law intended to control commercial gatherings, by clamping down on the use of restaurants, hotel, and bar premises, indoors or out, by patrons in excess of the establishment’s official fire marshal-determined occupancy. Failing that, the town needs to begin total commercial property reassessment, charging those businesses that now handle 200, 300, or more patrons on a busy weekend enough in taxes to cover the additional costs of police and other services. Greed-driven operations should no longer be allowed to profit at the expense of ordinary taxpayers.

Trouble at the beaches could be better managed if there were a cap on the annual sale of nonresident beach parking permits and if nonresident four-wheel-drive permits were sold only in the winter months, following the lead of the state. Better management of beachgoers’ trash is a must as well.

These are but a few of the steps that might help assure residents that town officials are paying attention and that they need not begin packing their bags.

This is serious, folks. It’s time for action — and a whole lot of it.