Letters

Thank you for your article “Board Hears Both Sides of Ag Reserve Dispute,” [October 5], which described the Planning Board public hearing on September 28 to consider an application by the owner of 625 Butter Lane (Whirled Peas) to change the specifications of the covenant governing this agricultural reserve.

As your paper has limited space to cover all the speakers at such a well-attended public hearing, it is worth noting that a representative of the Group for the East End, an important environmental advocacy organization, also appeared in person to offer opposing comments to this application.

I’d also like to share my comments at that hearing.

The decisions that are made by the Planning Board members following this public hearing are of the utmost importance to all residents of the Town of Southampton.

If you agree to this applicant’s request for an amendment to change and diminish the covenant that codifies and restricts the activities and structures that are allowed on this agricultural reserve property, you will set a precedent that opens the door for this and all other owners of agricultural reserves to request that their restrictions be diminished.

The integrity of all the existing and future agricultural reserve easement agreements between those property owners and the town government will be threatened.

What is the purpose and trustworthiness of a covenant between the Town of Southampton and a property owner if that covenant is not binding and can be changed simply because a person, who purchased the property with this covenant in place, fully knowing the restrictions for the use of the property, is requesting it, and has the money to pay for high-priced attorneys to press his case before the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals for years on end?

The seeming cat-and-mouse game regarding this property has been going on for a long while and is costing the neighbors and the town a great deal of time and money when it should be clear that the town’s appointed board members can and should just say no and uphold this agricultural easement’s existing provisions and the town’s zoning codes.

Pamela Harwood

President, Bridgehampton Civic Association