At its recent meeting, the Southampton Town Conservation Board issued a rare and well-documented denial of a new house application at 151 Seascape Lane. The board makes difficult decisions balancing the wishes of its residents, like myself, with the protection of fragile resources, which is its first priority. In this case, they clearly made the right decision.
Several environmental experts pointed out that this property has an extraordinary amount of wetlands and wildlife. It is adjacent to another parcel that has been preserved to protect this habitat. Construction of even the smallest house would be detrimental. It is impossible to meet any required setback; experts stated that a septic system would regularly flood, irreparably degrading the wetlands.
Money was recently set aside by the town to reduce the polluting problem at Sagg Pond caused by rainwater runoff from properties near the pond. Rainwater from this property drains into Sagg Pond so a new house would further aggravate the issue.
Finally, Marty Shea provided a detailed and extensive analysis in requesting that the application be denied.
Thank you, Southampton Conservation Board, for making the environmentally correct decision.
Daniel and Diane Barry
Sagaponack
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