Surf Lodge, Town Reach Accord
Years of squabbles, town code violations, and animosity in Montauk after the Surf Lodge broke ground in transforming the hamlet’s low-key bars and restaurants into overcrowded and trendy night spots, may have come to an end this week with an agreement between East Hampton Town officials and the business and property owners.
Noise from outdoor music, crowds, and alleged noncompliance with certain aspects of zoning are addressed in the accord, as well as the septic system at the club and hotel, which is on Fort Pond, and is to be upgraded. The agreement, intended to put to rest the Surf Lodge’s longstanding issues with the town, is to be ratified by a State Supreme Court judge.
Negotiations took place over several weeks, Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said, and the owner of the property, Montauk Properties, and the company that operates the business, J.C. Hospitality, have agreed to the terms.
According to the agreement, maximum occupancy will drop from 450 to 395. Live music will be allowed only between mid-May and mid-September on five days of the week, between Wednesday and Sunday, and for no more than two hours a day. Outdoor music will end by 8 p.m., an hour earlier than generally allowed under town law. The club also will install a system designed to muffle the sound from outdoor bands, to which previous owners had agreed in 2011 but failed to do.
Once the 395-person limit has been reached, no more than 50 people are to be allowed on a waiting line, a line that has often been several times that big, and no food or drink can be served in the queuing area.
“This was a really constructive agreement between us and the town,” Michael Walrath, a principal in Montauk Properties, said yesterday. “We’re very happy with this agreement. It was a very good process working with the town.”
Mr. Walrath, whose company took ownership of the Surf Lodge in 2012 and inherited the community angst over the club’s impact on Montauk as well as its legal issues, said that negotiations with the town were not at all like “warfare,” as some who had cast the club and the community as adversaries would have it. Instead, the discussion focused on “how we can continue to be a constructive member of the community.” He and his partners, he said, are eager to be good neighbors.
“One of the best outcomes here is that everybody is on the same page. I think everything in there is reasonable; it paves the way for us to do the things we’ve been meaning to do for some time,” Mr. Walrath said.
Certain improvements, he said, such as the septic system upgrade and installation of a sprinkler system, had been stalled because of pending issues that precluded the issuance of permits. Now, he said, everything can be taken care of.
The agreement was finalized and approved by the town board on Tuesday afternoon, after East Hampton Town Justice Steve Tekulsky on Monday dismissed six charges dating from last summer, for overcrowding and noise violations, on technicalities.
Those charges had prompted a review by the State Liquor Authority, which led to a discovery last month that the club was not categorized on its S.L.A. license as a live music venue. Other Montauk bars and restaurants were then also identified as lacking in a live music designation, which resulted in the cancellation of a number of gigs
The agreement sets deadlines over the next several months for a number of actions and states that if the Surf Lodge fails to meet the deadlines “all commercial activity at the location will be halted.” Among the necessary actions are the submission of an updated property survey, with a visit to ascertain its accuracy, and an application to the town planning board for site plan review, showing everything on the property.
The club will be held to what is in its 2008 certificate of occupancy; any unauthorized changes since then, plus plans for the required changes will be the subject of review.
The Surf Lodge had canceled live music in June, but looking ahead to the rest of the summer, Mr. Walrath said the town’s new limits “work fine for our business.” With the town’s backing and the application to amend the liquor license already before the S.L.A., he said, “We are very optimistic that we’ll be able to continue” with music performances “in the near term.”