Southampton ZBA Public Hearing On Bridgehampton Sand Mine To Continue Thursday

A debate on whether a Bridgehampton sand and gravel business is operating in accordance with Southampton Town’s zoning code will continue before the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals at a public hearing on Thursday, January 19, at 7 p.m.

A handful of community members have objected to operations by Wainscott Sand and Gravel, also known as the Sand Land Corporation. The business is a sand mining, gravel grinding and mulching business that operates on nearly 50 acres on Middle Line Highway. Some have claimed that although the business only has approvals to operate as a sand mining facility, operations have expanded to include a solid waste processing plant, including the 
disposal of landscaping materials, composting and rock crushing.

Neighbors have complained that stench and loud noise at the site has disrupted their quality of life over the years. Some neighbors have also filed a State Supreme Court lawsuit against the Sand Land Corporation to try to shut down what they see as illegal, expanded commercial uses on the land.

Concerned residents and John Tintle, the owner of the 
company, discussed the issues at a ZBA public hearing in November. At the heart of the case is a question of whether the property predates the town’s zoning code, which would make it a pre-existing, nonconforming use.

Southampton Town Chief Building Inspector Michael Benincasa ruled last year that the company was entitled to a pre-existing, nonconforming use certificate of occupancy for “the operation of a sand mine, the receipt and processing of trees, brush, stumps, leaves, and other clearing debris into topsoil or mulch, and the storage, sale, and delivery of sand, mulch, topsoil and wood chips and any other relief necessary.”

As far as receiving and processing concrete, asphalt, brick, rock and stone into concrete blend, however, Mr. Benincasa specifically stated in the determination that those were not legal uses, citing a 1962 ZBA decision. It’s Mr. Benincasa’s interpretation that neighbors are appealing before the ZBA.