Government

Of dozens of proposed new rules for East Hampton Village beaches, the one that generated the most discussion was one that would prohibit dogs on the Main Beach Pavilion between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. “It’s dangerous to have animals on the pavilion at the same time as when it’s busy,” the deputy mayor told the village board last month.

A petition urging East Hampton Town to allow licensed cannabis retail dispensaries popped up recently on change.org, arguing that a regulated cannabis market would increase community safety and foster opportunities for economic growth.

After learning that he would not be reappointed chairman of the East Hampton Town Planning Board, Samuel Kramer announced at the board’s Dec. 18 meeting that he has decided to leave the board altogether, a year before his seven-year term was set to expire.

A dock on West Water Street next to the Beacon restaurant in Sag Harbor has “reached the end of its lifespan,” according to Chris Duryea, who with his fellow harbormaster, Robert Bori, at a village board meeting on Dec. 10 presented a plan to completely replace it.

This fall, Sharon McCobb, widely considered an ideal citizen here, lost the lease on the house she rented with her husband, falling victim to the town’s affordable housing crisis. So they packed up and moved to Chester, Vt.

A church seeking to stockpile construction materials on its site was front and center on the Dec. 4 agenda of the East Hampton Town Planning Board.

“If not used for a private business, the applicant should explain the church operations which require a stockpile of construction materials on site,” read a dry note in a Planning Department memo about the Hampton Church’s application. The church, at 69 Industrial Road in Wainscott, is seeking to expand and improve its parking lot and to legalize an outside storage area.

Two separate $30,000 donations from the East Hampton Village Foundation, accepted by the village board at its Dec. 18 meeting, will pay for the installation of 10 Flock Safety license-plate readers, which will be placed at each entry and exit point to the village.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has again vetoed a bill that would have reinstated the Montaukett Indian Nation's official state recognition, of which the tribe was stripped some 115 years ago by a court ruling that's widely regarded today as a grossly racist land grab.

Officials from East Hampton Town, Georgica Green Ventures, and the East Hampton Housing Authority celebrated the official opening of the Green at Gardiner’s Point, a new affordable housing project here, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Dec. 18.

The East Hampton Town Board passed a somewhat rushed resolution Tuesday, allowing the town to spend just over $500,000 to acquire five pieces of land, including one 7.7-acre tract, from Suffolk County. Four of the five parcels would be used for affordable housing and one unbuildable lot in Montauk would go to open space. Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez explained that the county had set tomorrow as a deadline to authorize the expenditure.

“I only know that I have been advised that I’m not serving next year as chair,” said Samuel Kramer, who has served as chairman of the East Hampton Town Planning Board since January 2019. The decision, which requires a vote of the entire town board, won’t become official until a resolution to that effect is passed at the reorganizational meeting on Jan. 2.

In its second discussion about adjusting maximum house size based on lot area, the East Hampton Town Board seemed swayed by public opinion, calling the original numbers too restrictive, especially for small lots. Comments from the public, nearly 20 of them, were divided between those saying the work group’s original recommendation was the only thing that could save the character of East Hampton, and those saying that that recommendation would surely ruin the town.

Twice a year, the Town of East Hampton awards money to homeowners and businesses to incentivize water quality improvements. On Dec. 16, applications opened to award $1 million to fund eligible projects for 2025.

For Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. of Sag Harbor, the last several weeks have been filled with proclamations, plaques, parties, and praise for the work he accomplished over the course of a nearly 40-year career as an elected official, including 29 in his current post in Albany. Like all lively dinner parties, popular television series, and the Mets’ playoff run this season, good things must at some point come to an end: Mr. Thiele, 71, is officially retiring from government.

The East Hampton Town Board discussed on Tuesday the procedure for when members of the architectural review board or the zoning board of appeals must be absent from meetings and an alternate must be formally accepted into the process.

The Springs General Store has been shuttered since the end of the 2022 summer season, and while the new owners are getting closer to winning approvals for changes they plan, one of them, Daniel Bennett, confirmed via text last week that the store will remain closed for the summer of 2025.

Despite concerns from one board member about setting an unwelcome precedent, the East Hampton Town Board voted three to one — with one recusal — to exempt the planned senior citizens center in Amagansett from local zoning and land-use regulations.

Mashashimuet Park could be getting a new entrance, Sag Harbor Village’s deputy mayor, Ed Haye, announced at Tuesday night’s village board meeting. It would be moved south of its current location, he said, onto the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, and could be folded into Suffolk County’s planned renovation to that road.

The East Hampton Town Board has proposed designating two structures at 66 Main Street in Wainscott, on a 30-acre property recently purchased from Ronald Lauder, as historic landmarks to be known as the John Osborn Homestead Historic Landmark. Some advocates say the whole property should be landmarked.

A Sag Harbor Village plan to connect two sewersheds to the wastewater treatment plant is moving ahead. The village accepted construction bids on the projects at a meeting on Nov. 19, and Aidan Corish of the village board expects the work to begin in early 2025.

Upward of 50 people attended East Hampton Village’s first workshop as it prepares to update its comprehensive plan, filling nearly every chair in the Emergency Services Building. Familiar themes peppered the conversation: traffic congestion and speeding, lack of affordable housing, the departure of mom-and-pop shops, and the constant clatter of the landscaping and construction industries.

East Hampton lifeguards performed a record number of rescues, 226 total, during the 2024 season at town beaches, according to the town’s chief lifeguard, John Ryan Jr. Of that number, 202 rescues occurred at protected beaches, while 24 took place at unprotected beaches. Both of those numbers doubled from last year’s totals.

The East Hampton Town Board on Tuesday heard the first round of pitches for affordable housing projects angling for money generated by the half-percent community housing fund real estate transfer tax, which has produced more than $10 million since it went into effect in April 2023.

A management plan for a new pocket park in Amagansett, featuring recreation and meeting spaces, had a public hearing before the East Hampton Town Board on Nov. 21, with just one speaker offering thoughts on the proposal.

After the town board agreed to slash the maximum allowable house size from 20,000 to 10,000 square feet townwide, the board focused Tuesday on recommendations from the Planning Department to change a formula that would also reduce the maximum gross floor area of houses by tying that to the size of their lots.

Several residents of the Lazy Point neighborhood on Napeague have voiced concerns at recent meetings of the East Hampton Town Trustees about a Suffolk County dredging project in the channel between Lazy Point and Hicks Island, arguing that widening the channel as proposed would allow water to rise and encroach even more on their houses.

The real estate developer Jeremy Morton discussed his plans for the commercial buildings at 2 Main Street and 22 Long Island Avenue in Sag Harbor at a village planning board hearing on Nov. 26. 

The town board awarded about $120,000 in community development block grants to four organizations last week, Maureen’s Haven and OLA among them.

The town board tackled a quirky piece of legislation at last week’s work session, involving the temporary storage of prefabricated homes. The problem arises when trucks arrive with their oversize loads. They often sit idling, sometimes for hours, while they wait for a local builder to arrive to pick up the goods.

A bill that would designate Plum Island as a national monument has been passed by the House Natural Resources Committee, paving the way for a congressional vote.