A Second Southampton Village Trustee Accused Of Doing Work Without A Building Permit - 27 East

A Second Southampton Village Trustee Accused Of Doing Work Without A Building Permit

icon 4 Photos
Southampton Village Trustee Robin Brown, right, at a village board meeting last month. CAILIN RILEY

Southampton Village Trustee Robin Brown, right, at a village board meeting last month. CAILIN RILEY

A new basement egress is visible at Trustee Robin Brown's property.

A new basement egress is visible at Trustee Robin Brown's property.

An anonymous caller reported to Southampton Village that work went on at Trustee Robin Brown's house without a permit.

An anonymous caller reported to Southampton Village that work went on at Trustee Robin Brown's house without a permit.

An anonymous caller reported to Southampton Village that work went on at Trustee Robin Brown's house without a permit.

An anonymous caller reported to Southampton Village that work went on at Trustee Robin Brown's house without a permit.

authorCailin Riley on Apr 13, 2022

Less than two months after Southampton Village Trustee Roy Stevenson was accused of having work done at his Jobs Lane business without proper permits, another village trustee is facing similar accusations — as well as an unwanted intrusion from at least one village resident who may have crossed the line in trying to figure out what was going on.

Trustee Robin Brown’s village residence has been the source of curiosity and speculation in recent weeks, with rumors swirling that she has been doing construction at her home without obtaining a building permit.

Southampton Village Police responded to a trespassing call at Brown’s home on Friday, April 8, when a man who said he was hired by village resident Frank DeVito walked onto her property and began taking photos.

Earlier this week, DeVito confirmed that he had paid a photographer to take photos at Brown’s property but said the photographer was unaware that he did not have permission to go there. DeVito said he had simply included Brown’s address on a list of locations he needed photographed, which included properties where DeVito, a local contractor, had been hired to do work.

He added that he didn’t consider sending the photographer to Brown’s home to be trespassing, insisting that since the construction area was not properly fenced off, he or anyone else would have the right to set foot on the property without permission.

Brown did not respond to repeated requests, in the form of phone calls, text messages and emails, seeking comment and clarification on the construction at her home. But she did confirm, via text, that Village Police had responded quickly and identified the man who had entered her property without permission and began taking photos of the construction work in the backyard.

“It’s reassuring to know that our Southampton Village Police Department serves and protects its residents well,” she said, adding that because the matter is “part of an open police department case,” she did not want to comment further.

Mayor Jesse Warren also declined to comment on the fact that in the span of just a few weeks, two village trustees had failed to obtain building permits for work at their home and business. He deferred questioning to senior building inspector Tien Ho So, who did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

On March 15, an anonymous caller told the village ordinance inspector that work was possibly being done without a permit at Brown’s home. The ordinance inspector reported that the homeowner said the work was cleanup. He scheduled a visit the next morning.

During the visit, the ordinance inspector and the building inspector observed a new exterior door entrance, concrete stairs leading into the basement foundation and what appeared to be a formerly open but now enclosed porch, according to the Village Police blotter. They both determined that, due to the scope of the work, the homeowner should have applied for a building permit and submitted architectural plans.

A Freedom of Information request submitted at the Building Department last week revealed that no building permits had been issued for Brown’s property, and there did not seem to be any stop-work orders issued either.

Derrick Highsmith, who works in the Building Department, said that residents who begin work without obtaining the proper building permits are required to pay double the appropriate fees if and when they apply for the building permit. As of early this week, Brown still had not done so.

You May Also Like:

Southampton Police Reports for the Week of April 3

HAMPTON BAYS — A Hampton Bays man was arrested by Southampton Town Police on April 1 in connection with a March 9 theft of a boat trailer from an East Quogue property. Anthony Colonna, 29, was charged with grand larceny, a felony, and conspiracy to commit a crime, a misdemeanor, for his role in the theft of the trailer, which was valued at $8,000. Police had previously arrested a Medford man, Christian Klemm, 29, in connection with the crime, who was charged with two felonies for possession of stolen property and grand larceny. 2 Apr 2025 by Staff Writer

Southampton DWI Arrests for the Week of April 3

Enrique F. Diaz Chocho, 36, of Flanders was arrested just after 6 p.m. on March 29 and charged with DWI after Southampton Town Police officers responded to a report of a two-car accident on Flanders Road near Red Creek Road and found Chocho had been driving one of the vehicles in an intoxicated condition. Nicholas Davis, 18, of Hampton Bays was arrested just after midnight on March 29 and charged with DWI after he was involved in a one-car crash on Oaktree Lane in East Quogue and was determined by a responding Southampton Town Police officer to have been drinking ... by Staff Writer

The Mountain

Southampton Town officials, it must be said, are very much on point when it comes to affordable housing. It’s not just lip service: The town is doing its level best to begin to address the ongoing crisis that is making it harder for the town’s workforce to stay here, and more difficult for the town’s business community to fill positions. It became problematic a few years ago, but today it’s probably the biggest issue Town Hall faces. And it appears that all hands are on deck. The town’s voters also have done their part, approving a new Community Housing Fund ... by Editorial Board

Final Hurdle Cleared for Algae Harvesters at Lake Agawam

The final hurdle standing in the way of green-lighting an algae harvester project at Lake ... by Cailin Riley

Eastport Tobacco Shop Closed After Illicit Cannabis Raid; Employee Arrested

Suffolk County Police arrested the employee of an Eastport tobacco shop last week for illegally ... by Staff Writer

April Express Sessions Will Focus on Pros and Cons of Historic District Expansion in Southampton Village

The delicate push and pull between preservation and property rights is familiar to many East End homeowners, as well as local government officials, and it’s an issue that’s been a particular flashpoint in Southampton Village recently. An analysis of a proposed historic district expansion in Southampton Village will be the topic of discussion for the next Express Sessions panel discussion, set for Thursday, April 10, from noon until 2 p.m. at Union Burger Bar at 40 Bowden Square in Southampton Village. The village received a $40,000 Certified Local Government Historic Preservation Grant from the state last fall to study the ... by Cailin Riley

Hampton Bays Cannabis Shop Roils Residents Right out of Gate

With objections to a proposal to open a pot shop in a former bank building ... by Michael Wright

Proposed Westhampton Beach Village Budget Would Increase Taxes by 9 Percent, Piercing State Tax Cap

The Westhampton Beach Village Board is poised to adopt a $14.4 million fiscal year 2025-26 ... by Bill Sutton

Southampton Village Union Alleges Mishandling of Sensitive Employee Records

The leadership of the Civil Service Employees Association, the union that represents much of the ... by Cailin Riley

Southampton Town Will Eliminate Red Lights on County Road 39 for Two Weeks as Experiment on Traffic Flow

Southampton Town will expand its “cops and cones” traffic management efforts with a novel experiment ... by Michael Wright