The Southampton Town Board might add an amendment to a recently enacted local law mandating the use of advanced wastewater septic systems for new structures.
The proposed amendment gets rid of a quirk in the law that put some people in a bind: They already received permits from the Suffolk County Health Department for standard septic systems, but the new law was approved on September 1 before they could receive town building permits to have them installed. The new law, meanwhile, requires more advanced systems to get the town permit.
Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said the amendment would fix an “unfair glitch” in the law that will only affect a handful of people, allowing them to install the standard systems instead. He said it’s unfair to make people start the process over again after they already spent “a considerable amount of money” surveying their property, and already got Health Department approvals.
“We should have done this from the beginning,” he said on Monday.
A public hearing on the legislation will take place at Southampton Town Hall on Tuesday, October 10, at 1 p.m.
In order to qualify for the exception, applicants must have completed applications with the Health Department and any conditional wetlands approvals before September 1.
Amanda Bernocco on Oct 4, 2017