A developer, Discovery Land, filed two applications to build a 600-acre golf course resort in the Pine Barrens of East Quogue. The first, called the Hills, was denied by the Town Board. Discovery Land sued the town for denying the application and then filed a second application, the Lewis Road Planned Residential Development, or PRD.
The PRD was approved by Southampton’s land use boards. Environmental groups then sued the town for approving the PRD. I believe this second lawsuit was more complicated, due to the confusing nature of “open space” on PRDs.
The Pine Barrens is a large area stretching for miles on both sides of Lewis Road. The two sides of Lewis Road are very different. The side where the golf course is located includes several large farms owned by the same families for over 100 years. The other side of Lewis Road includes three small PRDs rising up from Lewis Road, one behind the other.
Documents on file in Southampton’s Planning Department identify the three small PRDs as being located in the Pine Barrens. Each of the three small PRDs contains cluster housing and an alleged horse farm located on “open space.” “Open space” on a PRD may be sold or subdivided as a separate parcel.
One of the three small PRDs appears to have been owned by a doctors group, so that property certainly wasn’t a farm. At least one of the horse farms on “open space” was sold several times, and I believe another was flipped after only one day of ownership.
The largest of the horse farms was purchased by a local equestrienne. However, the equestrienne sold the farm before Discovery Land filed its Lewis Road PRD. So it’s important to understand that a local equestrienne is not involved in any existing issue on Lewis Road.
It’s also important to understand that The Press has endeavored to be accurate when reporting about PRDs. Some occupants of housing on the small PRDs appear to have made unsubstantiated statements in different publications. The Press addressed this issue without calling attention to the matter.
It has been said that bad zoning isn’t a victimless crime. PRDs can be easily exploited because of their confusing nature. That’s why knowledgeable land use officials, absent personal agendas, are necessary for the integrity of land use.
Documentation exists to prove that the creation of the small PRDs off Lewis Road has caused extensive damage (lawsuits exist), and stipulations continue to be violated. So it’s unclear why Southampton Town’s land use boards allowed Discovery Land to file an application for a PRD without stipulating in a formal resolution how “open space” will be used, subdivided or sold.
Susan Cerwinski
East Quogue
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