Government

The “apparent decline in our civil liberties and the unusual and extraordinary accretion of executive power that we’ve seen since Donald Trump was inaugurated” were considered with a mixture of gloom and optimism alongside denunciations of the conservative majority on the United States Supreme Court and a spirited call for citizen action to defend democracy at “Guardrails on Democracy,” the first Hamptons Institute discussion of the 2025 season.

Simmering discontent with the effort by East Hampton Village officials to publicize code amendments passed over the winter that require service workers to register with the village and curtail noise by tightening the hours during which such work can be done came to a boil at the village board’s July 2 meeting, with an attorney and the director of a Latino advocacy organization forcefully criticizing what they deemed insufficient outreach.

A private developer's plan to build 47 two and three-bedroom units on Pantigo Road and sell them as condominiums to local businesses for workforce housing “deviates from nearly every affordable housing development that exists in the town,” said Eric Schantz, a principal planner for the East Hampton Town Planning Department.

The East Hampton Town Board moved closer to loosening restrictions on homeowners who want to build accessory dwelling units on their properties, but not before two members of the public spoke out against the proposals.

East Hampton Town has ordered Christopher Winkler, a Montauk fisherman who was convicted in 2023 of falsifying records in order to sell fluke and black sea bass in quantities that vastly exceed legal limits, to vacate the slip at the hamlet’s commercial dock where his trawler, the New Age, has been docked for around 40 years.

East Hampton Town’s Democratic Party candidates launched their 2025 campaign on Monday with a gathering marked by gloomy assessments of Democrats’ status at the national level mixed with encouraging signs of resistance. At home, they enjoy a supermajority on the town board and among the town trustees, with some incumbents running unopposed for re-election.

The East Hampton Village Board voted to approve a $30.7 million budget for the next fiscal year that includes a tax increase of 1.28 percent for village residents.

It might be surprising to learn that the Coast Guard, which has a station in Montauk, owns 17 houses in Springs. Perhaps even more surprising was the news last week that it would like to upgrade the septic systems at all 17 properties, and will seek grants from the town to do so.

The total cost of the project is $1,688,962 or an average of $99,000 for each property. However, according to Kim Shaw, the town’s environmental protection director, that figure includes some items that are not eligible for town funding.

The East Hampton Village Board was criticized at its meeting last week for not doing enough to communicate two new laws that have been ensnaring landscapers and contractors since the middle of May. One requires service workers to register annually with the village at a cost of $250. The other, a noise ordinance, shortens hours for certain landscaping and construction activities between May 15 and Sept. 15.

The East Hampton Town Trustees will write a letter to the town board supporting the purchase of two parcels fronting Georgica Cove by the Peconic Land Trust, which is at present in contract, and the simultaneous sale of an easement to the town and to East Hampton Village to ensure their preservation in perpetuity.

The East Hampton Village Board has posted new dates for public hearings on a plan to trim term limits for the zoning board of appeals and the planning board from five years to three. Those hearings will now be held on July 2.

While conditions had improved by Monday, last weekend, the Surfrider Foundation’s Eastern Long Island chapter, which partners with Concerned Citizens of Montauk and the Peconic Baykeeper in sampling and analyzing local waters, canceled an International Surfing Day meetup that was to happen that day at Ditch Plain Beach, citing alarmingly high levels of Enterococcus bacteria in the water.

The Suffolk County Supreme Court on June 12 ruled against East Hampton Village, ordering it to reinstate a Main Beach parking permit and beach locker to David Ganz after they were revoked a year ago by Marcos Baladron, the village administrator.

The East Hampton Town Board will likely issue a bond covering increased engineering costs in connection with a new lighting plan for Amagansett’s Main Street, a project which has been at least five years in the works.

County emergency personnel lay out where to go, what to do and have ready, and officials to call in the event of inevitable natural disasters here.

Hefty crowds showed resolve at the “No Kings” rallies in East Hampton Town and Sag Harbor Village on Saturday, a protest against the Trump administration that coincided with a parade ostensibly to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Continental Army, Flag Day, and the president’s 79th birthday.

East Hampton Village will spend $61,634 to repair the ivy-covered trellis in Millstone Park on Main Street after it fell over during a storm last month. 

The Long Island Commercial Fishing Association is among the groups calling for a renewed halt to the construction of the Empire Wind 1 offshore wind farm, which was the subject of a stop-work order in April that was lifted just a month later. 

While rumors abound, and a real "if there's smoke there's fire" sense descends across the East End, so far, "We have no confirmation of any formal ICE activity within our jurisdiction," East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael Sarlo said in a statement Thursday.

As the pace of events in Los Angeles quickens this week, with the Trump administration and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California facing off over the former’s deployment of National Guard and United States Marine troops to quell protests against immigration enforcement actions, East Hampton Town and municipalities throughout the country will see what is being called a nationwide day of defiance. 

Elections for Sag Harbor Village mayor and two village trustees will take place on Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Sag Harbor Fire Department headquarters off Brick Kiln Road, but in each case, incumbents are running unopposed. 

The tallest structure in East Hampton Town, a 352-foot tower near the intersection of Abraham’s Path and Springs-Fireplace Road, could soon be removed, and there are no plans right now to replace it. 

The East Hampton Town Board passed a resolution last Thursday to hold a public hearing on July 3 on a planned $16 million community preservation fund acquisition at 43 Mile Hill Road in the Northwest area of East Hampton. 

Updated plans for the proposed Toilsome Farm Restaurant and Brewery are circulating at the East Hampton Village Design Review Board, and a neighbor who has already sued over the proposed project is raising alarms again. 

The Atlantic hurricane season officially started on Sunday, and with predictions of an above-average year amid substantial staffing and budget cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, East Hampton Town, like the entire East Coast, enters a perilous six-month span. 

As paid parking in Sag Harbor Village has begun for the season and will continue in many lots until the fall, it’s time to take a closer look, particularly at the lot off Meadow Street and the gas ball lot, where payment is newly required.

A Sag Harbor property owner, the first to run afoul last year of a new village law aimed at protecting trees of a certain diameter, had her case back in Sag Harbor Village Justice Court on Tuesday, and this time progress was made toward a resolution of the case. 

An application to subdivide the privately held Montauk Airport on East Lake Drive into four residential lots is making its way through the East Hampton Planning Department and could get an initial airing before the planning board in early July. 

A United States Department of Homeland Security webpage published Friday to "expose sanctuary jurisdictions" included East Hampton among more than 500 other municipalities, Suffolk County among them. It caught local officials off guard and prompted swift response from immigrant advocates. It was removed by Monday morning.

Despite holdouts, there are comfortable majorities on both the East Hampton Town Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals that favor allowing the 108-year-old Devon Yacht Club, at 300 Abram’s Landing Road in Amagansett, to proceed with its plans to renovate and reconstruct its buildings and amenities.