Trustees Almost Ready to Approve Lazy Point Leases

The almost yearlong effort to negotiate new leases for residents of Lazy Point in Amagansett, who own their houses on land owned by the East Hampton Town Trustees, is nearly complete. On Tuesday, the trustees and several residents of the shorefront neighborhood seemed to agree to the new rules and regulations, and the trustees are set to vote on them next week.

Diane McNally, the trustees’ clerk, told the residents that she had received a petition with more than 200 signatures in support of the revisions while the board had also received “comment from one gentleman questioning some of the amendments.”

Lessees had agitated for amendments they said would provide greater security. In keeping with their requests, the trustees have agreed to a 2-percent annual rent increase as well as the right to rebuild in the event of weather-related damage to their houses. The rent is now $1,650 per year.  Language regarding automatic renewal of the one-year leases provided they are in compliance with the rules and regulations, will apparently have to be modified. John Courtney, the trustees’ attorney, explained that “automatic renewal” was not intended to mean in perpetuity. He recommended that the wording be modified to state that the clause is subject to amendmens by future boards. Those in attendance indicated their agreement.

The heavily debated question of the land’s true value, however, has not been put to rest. Ira Barocas, who lives in Springs and regularly attends the trustees’ meetings, presented what he called a radical proposal. “I don’t see why you don’t just give mortgages to the people,” he said.

Bill Taylor, an incumbent trustee who was just re-elected, asked Mr. Barocas if he was suggesting the trustees should sell the property. “Exactly,” was his reply. “You’re giving it away. It’s not up to the commonalty to subsidize any group. . . . It’s a sham rental,” he said, given that the lessees are able to transfer leases to relatives.

Ms. McNally said that of the approximately 100 acres at Lazy Point, fewer than 10 are developed, with the rest “natural and available for the public’s use.” She told Mr. Barocas that the rentals  provide substantial revenue for operating expenses, but added that the “issues you raise are those that should be discussed between the homeowners and trustees in the future.” 

In other news from the meeting, Kevin McAllister of Defend H2O, an environmental advocacy organization, mentioned the work being done on the Montauk beach by the Army Corps of Engineers, and received the trustees’ nod of approval for the protest against it. The trustees do not own the beach there but they have been adamant against hard erosion-control structures on those they do.

Mr. McAllister had come to the meeting to describe his efforts to curtail aerial application of methoprene, a mosquito larvicide, over wetlands by the Suffolk County Department of Public Works vector control division.

Last month, Mr. McAllister attended a meeting of the county’s Council on Environmental Quality at which it considered the vector control division’s 2016 plans. “They approved the plan” to continue regular application of methoprene, “citing that there was no new science” to support halting its use, which he said was false. Crustaceans, he said, are among the nontarget species that are negatively impacted by the insecticide.

Mr. McAllister said that Southampton Town’s trustees are preparing a letter to the county’s planning and environment division opposing the use of methoprene, and that he will ask the same of Southold’s trustees next week. He asked the trustees to send a letter of their own.

“We’re all in unison that we don’t want our wetlands dosed with poison any longer, but we’ve got to take the fight to Hauppauge,” he said. “Otherwise, we’re dismissed out here. I would like to say that trustee boards in three townships are opposed to this application.”