Southampton Town Board Votes To Withdraw Appeal of Hampton Bays Downtown Overlay District Annulment

The Southampton Town Board voted unanimously to formally withdraw the town’s appeal of the court decision on the Article 78 lawsuit that annulled the controversial Hampton Bays Downtown Overlay District legislation.

Filed by hamlet resident Gayle Lombardi in 2020, the legal proceeding looked to overturn the vote creating the district, which, if enacted would “stuff” — her word — 13 square miles of projected development for the hamlet into the 45 acres of land, roughly from Springville Road on the west to around Ponquogue Avenue and Squiretown Road on the east, and from Good Ground Road to the south to Good Ground Park to the north, the boundaries of the overlay district.

In his determination, State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Santorelli cited inadequacies in the state environmental review and a deficiency in the density determination of the proposed new zoning district.

The town appealed the decision and hired the consulting firm Nelson Pope Voorhis to redo the environmental work. But controversy swirled and community enmity ratcheted up after the contract was signed. It included language that spoke to “neutralizing” opposition by depicting them in a negative light.

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman had signed it; confronted with the incendiary language, he claimed he never saw that attachment to the boilerplate contract. News spread just as the local Civic Association scheduled a community meeting to debunk “misinformation” about the overlay district.

An impassioned crowd filled the Hampton Bays High School auditorium. NPV withdrew from working on the project. The supervisor promised to work “extra hard” to restore public confidence.

Schneiderman promised a fresh start, hosting informal “listening sessions” open to the public throughout the month of October. He was asked by community members: Isn’t it disingenuous to say “fresh start” while continuing the litigation?

He predicted, on several occasions, that the town would likely cease pursuing the appeal.

At the November 9 Town Board meeting, with every member of the board signing on as co-sponsors, the resolution passed unanimously. The resolution reads, in part, “in consideration of the contentious nature of such re-zoning legislation, a desire to authentically re-engage community members in a continued thoughtful process, and conduct a broader based outreach, seeking to better reflect the collective desires of the community … The Southampton Town Board does hereby withdraw the Notice of Appeal.”

With the resolution laid on the table as a “walk-on,” or last-minute measure added to the November 9 agenda, Schneiderman offered, “The town worked very hard to come up with what we thought would revitalize downtown, would lead to investments that would improve the community based on community input.”

The judge “kicked it back,” he said, Santorelli asking town officials to review aspects of the legislation before re-approving it. Going through that process, he said, officials learned the community — not just a handful of NIMBYs — had concerns about a variety of aspects of the overlay district.

“In an effort to really start fresh and work with the community and address all these issues, it sounds like the final product that we’re aiming at now is different than the product we first approved,” Schneiderman said.

Mentioning the listening sessions, and a hamletwide survey to be released soon, he reported plans to begin meeting with small focus groups.

“I feel like things are going in a positive direction, a direction that is not quite the same,” he concluded, stating the time had come to stop wasting time and money trying to reverse the annulment of the overlay district.

“This wipes the whole slate clean,” said Councilman Rick Martel, a Hampton Bays resident and business owner. “I think this is a huge step.”

“I commend the Town Board for unanimously adopting a resolution to withdraw the appeal of the Supreme Court decision to annul the HBDOD Form-Based Code,” Lombardi said. “I hope this is the first step of a commitment by the Town Board to a transparent, inclusive and effective process that will result in a sustainable plan.”