The long-discussed site plan application for the construction of a sewage treatment plant at the Montauk Shores Condominiums was approved unanimously at the East Hampton Town Planning Board meeting on Dec. 18.
The oceanfront trailer park submitted its initial application in April of 2018. It finally got the necessary approval from the Suffolk County Health Department in December of 2023, and representatives of the condominium complex spent the following year working with the Planning Department on the site plan.
In conducting a “rapid review” of the most recent site plan updates at the planning board’s Dec. 4 meeting, Daniel Gross, a senior planner for the town, highlighted some minor edits to the construction protocols and a clarification to the lighting plan. He also noted that the Planning Department suggested a change in language regarding the jurisdiction of the planning board on the stormwater drainage systems at Montauk Shores.
The final language states that the board’s “approval relates only to the sewage treatment plant and not to overall stormwater drainage systems on the property.”
While the other conditions were acceptable to Richard Whalen, an attorney appearing on behalf of Montauk Shores, this one was an “exception.”
“The issue that we have is that the change feels like the Planning Department wants to re-litigate this issue or at least keep it alive,” Mr. Whalen said, adding later, “to be clear, you have no jurisdiction over the stormwater drainage system on the Montauk Shores property.”
Mr. Whalen also pointed out that the department itself affirmed this fact in a memo from Sept. 25.
Mr. Whalen read from the memo saying, “it does not appear that the town has authority to regulate the discharges from the pipes or impose conditions on this site plan associated with the stormwater system.”
“We’re not looking to re-litigate this case. We’re not,” responded Ed Krug, the board’s vice chairman at the time. Mr. Krug emphasized that his and other board members’ issue with the language was that it seemed to set a precedent that the board has no jurisdiction over any stormwater systems.
Samuel Kramer, the then-chairman of the board, echoed Mr. Krug’s concerns and suggested a simple fix might be to alter the planning board edit to read “this property” rather than “the property” to indicate the board’s lack of jurisdiction in this particular matter.
Matthew Yudelson, the facilities manager of Montauk Shores, also suggested on Dec. 4 that in order to stop any further delays on the project the final language be added to the survey when the project is completed, as opposed to having to submit another revised survey.
The board agreed on this stipulation and unanimously voted to mark the application ready for approval. It was subsequently unanimously approved at the meeting on Dec. 18.
The next step for Montauk Shores will be approval from the town’s architectural review board. The project is not on the schedule for that board’s meeting later today.
