Court Sides With Hedges Inn, Throws Out East Hampton Village Law That Halted Weddings At Historic Inns - 27 East

Court Sides With Hedges Inn, Throws Out East Hampton Village Law That Halted Weddings At Historic Inns

icon 1 Photo
The Hedges Inn.         KYRIL BROMLEY

The Hedges Inn. KYRIL BROMLEY

authorMichael Wright on Jan 27, 2021

A state judge has thrown out an East Hampton Village law that prohibited inns and restaurants from having tented weddings and other special events and seemingly targeted the Hedges Inn specifically at the behest of neighbors.

In her decision, New York State Supreme Court Justice Martha Luft declared the law invalid because it effectively imposed a zoning restriction on one type of property that was not imposed on other properties within the same zoning district.

The law barred inns and restaurants from applying to the village for a special event permit to allow outdoor dining under a tent on the property for a single event, but did not make the same limitation on adjacent residential properties or even other non-residential properties in the same area, the judge noted.

Attorneys for the owners of the Hedges Inn, which filed the lawsuit soon after the law was enacted in October 2018, had spotlighted that the village had continued to grant special events permits to nearby churches, the East Hampton Library and the East Hampton Historical Society for outdoor events right up the street from the Hedges.

“Even if a rational basis might exist for treating residential property differently from non-residential property, the respondents have articulated no basis — rational or otherwise — for distinguishing certain non-residential property from other non-residential property,” Judge Luft wrote in her decision, finding the law is “invalid and unenforceable.”

The lawsuit was born after the village denied the Hedges Inn four special events permits it had requested for weddings in 2018. In denying the permits, the village said that such events constituted an unlawful expansion of the inn’s restaurant to an outdoor patio. The denial referenced a 2006 court ruling that had barred the former James Lane Cafe, a restaurant owned by The Palm steakhouse chain that operated in the Hedges Inn’s restaurant space in the late 1990s and early 2000s, from using an outdoor patio for outdoor dining. But the Hedges operators noted that the James Lane Cafe had made the patio essentially a permanent part of the restaurant and that the inn’s special event permits were for a different area of the property and were only for temporary one-day use each.

In the law adopted later that year, the village declared outdoor tents at inns and restaurants to be an expansion of a “pre-existing, non-conforming” use, which is not allowed.

The lawsuit accused the Village Board of having crafted the law to specifically target the Hedges Inn at the behest of the inn’s neighbors, Patricia and Peter Handal, who were also a party to the lawsuit.

An attorney for the Handals, Anthony Pasca, declined to comment on Judge Luft’s decision or whether an appeal should be expected.

Chris Kelley, the attorney for the Hedges said that Judge Luft had rightly accepted his argument that the village law was essentially a zoning amendment that imposed imbalanced restrictions.

“We were singled out for unequal treatment,” Mr. Kelley said. “You can’t say to a residential property that they can have 21 days of special events but their neighbor that happens to be a hotel can’t have any events at all.

In addition to throwing out the law, Judge Luft also allowed that the Hedges Inn may seek damages for lost revenue during the time when they were prevented from holding special events. Mr. Kelley said that his clients have yet to calculate what the damages they might claim would be.

You May Also Like:

Saving Species for the Health of the Planet | 27Speaks Podcast

On Saturday, April 26, the South Fork Natural History Museum (SOFO) and its Young Environmentalist ... 24 Apr 2025 by 27Speaks

Southampton Town Still Hiring for Lifeguard and Beach Attendant Positions at Eastern Town Beaches

The Town of Southampton is still actively seeking employees to staff its many beaches, particularly the bays and oceans in the eastern portion of the town, and is offering new locations for lifeguard training courses to help make the process run more smoothly and, hopefully, attract new candidates. Positions for beach manager, assistant beach manager, and beach attendants are still open at Foster Memorial Long Beach in Sag Harbor, and at the town’s ocean beaches east of the Shinnecock Canal, including Sagg Main, Mecox, Scott Cameron and Flying Point. In past years, the lifeguard certification courses — a necessary prerequisite ... 23 Apr 2025 by Cailin Riley

Friends of Georgica Pond Name Kimberly Quarty as Executive Director

The Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation Inc. has announced that Kimberly Quarty has been hired ... 16 Apr 2025 by Stephen J. Kotz

Local Food Pantries Face New Hurdles as Need Grows

The directors of the Springs Food Pantry, the Sag Harbor Community Food Pantry and Heart ... by Jack Motz

New Sagaponack General Store Will Open on April 16

Nearly four years after purchasing the vacant Sagaponack General Store, Mindy Gray is ready to ... 14 Apr 2025 by Cailin Riley

Pantigo Windmill Damaged in Overnight Storm

The Pantigo Windmill near St. Luke’s Church in East Hampton Village was damaged in an ... 4 Apr 2025 by Jack Motz

Killer Bees Present and Past Will Support Hampton Library Revitalization Effort in Charity Alumni Game Friday Night

UPDATE: Bridgehampton School Superintendent Dr. Mary T. Kelly announced on Thursday that the “Bees for ... 1 Apr 2025 by Cailin Riley

PHOTOS: Montauk's 63rd Annual Friends of Erin Parade Steps Off Sunday

Downtown Montauk was packed on Sunday for the 63rd annual Friends of Erin St. Patrick’s ... 31 Mar 2025 by Staff Writer

The Man Behind the Monument: Malcolm Frazier

A man, a boat, water and a line. For nearly a quarter-century, a lone commercial ... by Michelle Trauring

Couple Will Walk 80 Miles of Beaches Carrying Colon Cancer Awareness on Their Shoulders

Brian Crowe wanted to swim across Moriches and Shinnecock inlets on his way to Montauk, ... 26 Mar 2025 by Michael Wright