Neighbors Unhappy With Slow Process To Bring Adjoining Property Into Compliance

Last May, Southampton town officials determined that Steven Giuffre, the owner of a North Phillips Avenue property in Speonk cleared the lot illegally and issued him several violations.

The town called for full compliance and brought the case to Southampton Town Justice Court in September. Now, months later, adjoining homeowners remain disgruntled at what they say is a slow corrections process.

In March, Mr. Giuffre of North Phillips Properties LLC cleared a wooded area up to the property line to make more space for the landscaping, welding gas and auto body companies that are housed on the lot.

Since then, the homeowners of five properties behind his lot in the Longtree Pond community have had a clear view from their backyards of all of the commercial activity occurring on the property, which was previously concealed by the vegetation and trees. Mr. Giuffre proceeded to cover the cleared land with gravel and park over a dozen boats, transit buses and company vehicles there, all visible from the neighboring homes.

Aside from having to look at what they deem an unsightly property, the residents were worried that the view would significantly lower their property values if they wished to sell their homes along Drew Drive.

“The bottom line is, we used to look at trees and now we're looking at that place and it looks like a trailer park. We know it has affected the value of our homes,” said Ron Wolcott, one of the afflicted homeowners.

Beverly Fraas, the longtime homeowner of 32 Drew Drive, went as far as to remove one of her kitchen windows that looked out to the North Phillips property when she renovated her kitchen in August.

Mr. Giuffre has made some changes in line with the town’s demands—he removed two shipping containers and a membrane structure above them, as well as portions of a block wall used to store landscaping material—but he has yet to fulfill the other requirements.

He still needs to move all of the vehicles to the front of the property and re-vegetate the cleared land with tall trees. Assistant Town Attorney Richard Harris said in an email that revegetation cannot happen until the springtime. If the gravel remains on the land, it is unclear how revegetation can occur.

Town officials also require Mr. Giuffre to receive site plan approval for the land clearing from either the Town Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals, Southampton Town Attorney James Burke explained, although he is unsure exactly which board Mr. Giuffre must go to.

If he does not meet the town’s requirements, Mr. Giuffre will have to appear in court in March, according to Mr. Harris.

Mr. Giuffre and his attorney, Robert Marcincuk of O’Shea Marcincuk and Bruyn, LLP based in Southampton, have been working with the town attorneys and Councilwoman Christine Scalera to bring the property into compliance, Mr. Burke said.

Mr. Burke noted that Mr. Giuffre has “shown a good level of cooperation.” Neither Mr. Giuffre nor his attorney could be reached for comment.

Other problems have also emerged since the clearing. The neighboring residents claim that the applied gravel is causing flooding issues in some of their backyards when it rains, as well as possible groundwater contamination. Mr. Giuffre also recently installed a chain link fence along the south property line that impaired his adjoining neighbor’s existing fence at 36 Drew Drive.

Mr. Harris responded to the contamination issue in an email to the homeowners on January 3 and said that officials from the State Department of Environmental Conservation will visit the property soon to test for contamination any materials deposited on the site.

The homeowners have been unsatisfied by the level of communication from the town. They believe that town officials are working to resolve the issue, but that they are not providing adequate updates with where the situation stands.

“We're kept in the dark,” Ms. Fraas said. “I understand where the town's coming from, but we have to have a master plan.

“We’re just not getting responses. It’s going onto nine months and we’re still not seeing any progress,” Mr. Wolcott said. “I’m not trying to put any negative connotations on the town. I just know that in my last couple emails to Councilwoman Scalera, she said she would respond and let us know what is happening and how it’s going to be in an outline format. Each time I request that, they said, ‘We’ll be getting back to you.’”

Mr. Wolcott hopes to sell his house after he retires in two years, but said he believes it is valued at $50,000 to $100,000 lower because of the backyard sight.

Bill Carroll, a licensed real estate associate broker at Corcoran Group and longtime Longtree Pond resident, was requested by the affected homeowners to provide his professional opinion regarding property value loss for their five homes.

Although his home was not affected by the land clearing, he sent a letter to Ms. Scalera and the Southampton Town Board members in October as a favor to his neighbors. In it, he wrote, “The reduction in value in my opinion is of varying degrees and severity and range from ten to fifteen percent. It is only logical to assume that buyers who are pursuing quiet, peaceful, and private backyards as a high priority will be lost.”

“The Town of Southampton needs to enforce their ordinances because this situation is totally unacceptable,” Marilou Graham, president of the Longtree Pond Homeowners Association, said in an email. “These residents are not going to quit fighting this until a resolution is agreed upon.”

As a solution to the problem, many involved in the case think that Mr. Giuffre should plant enough dense trees to conceal his property so that the neighbors can regain their privacy.

“From a civic association standpoint and the Citizens Advisory Committee-West standpoint, what we’d like to see is a nice compromise where they can coexist,” said Craig Catalonotto, the co-chair of Westhampton-Speonk-Remsenburg-Eastport-Quogue Citizens Advisory Committee. “With the planting of mature evergreens along property lines, that would be very neighborly of Steve to do. It would help the Longtree folks.”

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