Government

The East Hampton Town Anti-Bias Task Force, concerned about what its members say appears to be an increase in young adult and high school suicides that may have been related to gender identity and to bullying, is seeking support for increased mental health services here.

In a presentation last week at an East Hampton Village Board meeting, Councilwoman Sylvia Overby, who is the town board’s liaison to the committee, summarized the task force’s recent activities and said its members believe the town faces “a bias issue.”

The creation of year-round housing in outbuildings on lots of an acre or more, to be rented to permanent residents at prices within affordable housing guidelines, got the go-ahead with a vote of the East Hampton Town Board on Dec. 1.

After a hearing on revisions to the town housing code that evening, the town board voted to allow, for the first time, the creation of accessory dwellings in detached structures, but only on acre-sized properties. 

The East Hampton Town Planning Board meeting on Dec. 7, which included public hearings and site plan reviews, was unusually contentious.

The removal of more than 55,000 pounds of macroalgae from Georgica Pond last summer is likely responsible for a substantial reduction this year in levels of toxic blue-green algae, and should be repeated next year, the East Hampton Town Trustees were told on Monday.

The $8.6 million purchase of more than 25 acres of woodland in East Hampton’s Buckskill area will be the subject of a hearing at the Town Board’s next formal meeting tonight at 6:30.

East Hampton Town is to become the first “small community” on Long Island to be certified as a clean-energy community by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, an agency that provides financial incentives for smart-energy usage to municipalities, homes, businesses, and other entities.

The East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals voted Tuesday to deny an application from a couple who bought a house on Marine Boulevard in Amagansett in February and were hoping to replace it with a larger one.

Merit pay for heads of departments and apartments in outbuildings.

Three public hearings are scheduled to be held in front of the East Hampton Town Planning Board on Wednesday, starting at 7 p.m.

Marc Rowan, an investment billionaire whose plans for the several commercial properties he has bought in Montauk have had the attention of East Hampton Town planners for quite some time, may have been expecting formal planning board approval of a site plan for his Arbor restaurant on Nov. 16, but it was not to be.

The East Hampton Town budget was adopted and the moratorium on development along Montauk Highway in Wainscott was approved.

East Hampton Town

Landlord and Tenant Rights

Despite the nationwide rallies and candlelight vigils protesting the election of Donald Trump last week, those who voted for him on Nov. 8 remain steadfast. The president-elect won Suffolk County, though not the South Fork, yet his support here was still strong

At their meeting on Monday, the East Hampton Town Trustees basked in the Nov. 4 State Supreme Court decision dismissing private property owners’ claims to sections of the beach at Napeague, but they quickly turned their attention to the use of a mosquito larvicide called methoprene on the lands and waterways under their jurisdiction.

The team representing Marc Rowan — who wants to knock down four small cottages on Firestone Road in Montauk and replace them with three larger ones, each with its own small pool — failed to convince a majority of the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals to override a building inspector’s ruling that is holding up his plans.

Changes in the East Hampton Town zoning code that would set limits on the size of houses in keeping with the properties they are on, and other construction details, will be the subject of a hearing before the East Hampton Town Board at Town Hall next Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

The Suffolk Department of Health Services apparently is the only local agency that can enforce an 11-year-old Environmental Protection Agency requirement that large-capacity cesspools are illegal and should be removed. 

The issue drew the attention of the East Hampton Town Planning Board on Nov. 2 as members reviewed a site plan for the Arbor restaurant property in Montauk. The restaurant is near three bodies of water: Fort Pond, Fort Pond Bay, and Tuthill Pond.

The Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter will join hundreds of Y.M.C.A. facilities across the nation in providing free child care on Tuesday for people heading to the polls. The service will be available between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. 

In a decision Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman called a “minor victory” for Alex Gregor, the town highway superintendent, a Supreme Court judge ruled that Mr. Gregor is a necessary component in union issues that affect highway workers. The question of whether Mr. Gregor had such authority was one Mr. Schneiderman said needed to be clarified.

A public hearing on a plan to demolish a 3,800-square-foot house at 261 Marine Boulevard in Amagansett and replace it with a larger one brought a series of strict land-use regulations before the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals Tuesday night.

Sometimes what is below the ground can loom larger than what is above it. This may be the case with a site plan being considered by the East Hampton Town Planning Board for Arbor, a Montauk restaurant.

Come Election Day, Southampton Town residents will also be voting for Southampton Town justice.

Anna Throne-Holst, a Democrat who is running to unseat Representative Lee Zeldin in New York’s First Congressional District, has been endorsed by the Sierra Club, an environmental organization. “We are confident Ms. Throne-Holst will continue work to protect New York and Long Island’s health — air and water — and build a clean energy economy that works for all Americans,” Michael Hayes, political chairman of the club’s Long Island group, said.

East Hampton Town

Amagansett: Parking and Park

The East Hampton Town Board is moving forward with plans to expand the parking lot behind Main Street in Amagansett and to designate an adjacent area for use as a passive park.

Aman Developers, a general contracting company, plans a small, 225-square-foot, office building in the business center of Bridgehampton.

A plan to reissue a call for proposals for use of the town-owned land at 551 and 561 Montauk Highway in Amagansett has been put on hold at the behest of community members who asked for more time to have public discussions about the property’s future.

Is it a bluff or is it not? The East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals will attempt to answer that question over the next few weeks.

The East Hampton Town Trustees have designated Nov. 13 as the opening day for harvesting bay scallops in waters under their jurisdiction.

The East Hampton Town Planning Board will hold two hearings at Town Hall on Wednesday night.

There may be changes afoot for the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals. During a prolonged discussion on Oct. 11, the board wrestled with implementing rules that have been in effect since 1989, but have not been followed.