Senate Democrats who will be faced with some of the wild excesses of the Trump administration may be relieved now that a Biden-era plan to eliminate the legislation-blocking filibuster failed. Now the filibuster may be key in slowing the pace of the White House’s push toward autocracy. East Hampton Democrats should keep this in mind as they push for a new rule that would exempt certain community-centered projects from local planning and zoning approval. Though the present town board may self-satisfyingly believe that any project it devises is benign, the members fail to understand that a future, different town board could misuse the relaxation of rules for undertakings entirely antithetical to the original intent.
The list of exemptions that town-favored development might get under the proposal is substantial. The town would no longer need to follow its own clearing laws on residential lots in the harbor protection overlay district or the water recharge overlay district, nor would it need to obtain a natural resources special permit for any of its own projects. Size and setback regulations could be jettisoned for economic development that finds favor among the board — a potential disaster in some cases.
Politics is clearly at play here, though the all-Democratic town board would be loath to admit it. Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez’s re-election prospects may have been hurt by a reduction in a key house-size formula strongly opposed by many in the construction and real estate trades. Speeding permits for vague “community resources,” including undefined economic development, would be a way to counter arguments from challengers that East Hampton is a “land of no.” It is not difficult to see how in the wrong hands, the town’s ability to exempt itself from its own land-use rules could be a nightmare scenario for East Hampton. Good government leads by example, not by embedding a self-serving cheat code in its own laws.