Matt Lauer Revises Landscaping Plan For His Water Mill Farm

“Today Show” co-host Matt Lauer has drafted a revised landscape plan for his Water Mill horse farm but is awaiting review by the Southampton Town Agricultural Advisory Committee before the town Planning Board takes its own turn. On Thursday, December 10, the Planning Board postponed its review of the new site plan to sometime in February 2016, the third such extension.

The Agricultural Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations to the Planning Board on proposals involving farms, has not issued a report on the revised site plan because the 11-member board has not been able to assemble a quorum of at least six members since the summer. The advisory committee cannot issue a final report without a quorum.

“We have been and will continue to be patient and allow the process to move through all the appropriate phases in the town,” Edward Burke Jr., Mr. Lauer’s attorney, said on December 10. “We trust the system that’s in place and will await the town’s Agricultural Advisory Board to offer its recommendation before moving forward before the Planning Board.”

Submitted on December 4, the new plan is focused on addressing concerns expressed by neighbors as well as Mr. Lauer’s own concerns about the safety of his horses and their riders. Scaled down from the original proposal, it suggests planting 17 trees and 131 shrubs along the northern boundary of Bright Side Farm, which runs along Deerfield Road.

During a public hearing before the Planning Board in July, Mr. Lauer, who owns the farm with his wife, Annette, proposed extensive screening to protect their horses from noisy neighbors. This noise, he argued, spooks and startles his horses, putting riders at risk.

He originally proposed planting 42 trees and 194 shrubs, which would serve as a buffer for a horse trail and protect the animals and riders from noise emanating from the backyard of Jack and Jodi Wasserman, Mr. Lauer said.

The Wasserman home on Farrell Court is the closest to Bright Side and borders the site of the proposed landscaping. They argued that the trees would obstruct their view of Bright Side’s open space. They also said it would violate the terms of an easement that went into effect when Southampton Town bought the development rights for the Lauer property, as well as a condition set by the Planning Board in 2012 that views of the horse farm should be maintained.