Two Lots Cleared In Sagaponack Village Without Permit

Two wooded lots were cleared in Sagaponack without a permit last month, leaving behind a large pile of topsoil and not much else.

The Sagaponack Village Board has since put a stop-work order on the two adjacent parcels on Townline Road and have asked that the landowner, Farrell Holding Company LTD, submit a revegetation plan to the Village Planning Board.

However 25-year residents Jay and Sheila Kaplowitz, who live next door to the project, believe the damage is already done.

Once it's done there's not much anyone can do about it," Mr. Kaplowitz said. "It's unbelievable. It's a wasteland. I think the idea that a big developer can just go ahead and plow down tracts of land in violation of the law is no longer acceptable.

"He knows, however, that once done, it can never be adequately restored, so the consequences to him are minimal," Mr. Kaplowitz continued.

According to the village code, landowners cannot clear more than 2,000 square feet of property without a building permit. The two lots, totaling approximately 2.8 acres, or almost 121,970 square feet, were nearly entirely cleared with the exception of a 50-foot buffer in front of the properties, which was left untouched as part of an easement that was a condition of the original subdivision.

Mr. Kaplowitz described his view of the properties from the south side of his and his wife's home as "muddy vacant lots with weeds."

"All of a sudden one day—without any warning—bulldozers came, cleared all the trees, leveled the forest, took all of the topsoil off the land, piled it up and lowered the grade of the land," Mr. Kaplowitz recounted. "Then then they put up black plastic sheeting between the two lots. You just want to cry.”

Sagaponack Village Building Inspector John Woudsma brought the clearing to the board's attention last month. "Although the repercussions on Farrell may seem minor, submitting a revegetation plan does put a hurdle in front of their building permit request for one of the lots on 1264 Townline Road," he said this week.

“They're dead in the water until they can get that through the Planning Board," Mr. Woudsma added. “They've lost an awful lot of time."

Jane Kratz, the attorney for the Farrell company on the project, said she expects the landscaping plans to be submitted by Friday, August 26, in time to be discussed at the board's meeting on September 12. However, Ms. Kratz declined to comment on the clearing.

Representatives from Farrell Building could not immediately be reached for comment.

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