East Hampton to let Surf Lodge keep live music

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The Surf Lodge, a Montauk restaurant that draws large crowds for its free summer Sunday outdoor concerts, has gotten a reprieve from the East Hampton Town Board that will permit it to build a portable band shell, in the hopes of stemming the tide of noise complaints from neighbors.

The restaurant is currently facing three noise summonses before Justice Lisa Rana in East Hampton Town Justice Court. After receiving three noise violations, the business is required to come before the Town Board for a hearing on whether its outdoor music permit should be revoked.

The law requiring a Town Board hearing is just two years old, and Councilwoman Theresa Quigley, who is a lawyer, said she worries about due process issues when the Town Board is asked to make a decision on a case that is currently before the court.

Colin Astarita, an attorney who is representing the Surf Lodge, told the board at the hearing Tuesday morning that he believed the law was drafted to give the Town Board authority to stop live music mid-season at fly-by-night nightclubs that can leave town long before their cases come to court. He said that was not the case with his clients, who want to work to make the community surrounding the restaurant happy.

He said that he had expected Justice Rana to issue a determination on the noise violations last Friday, but she was not on the bench due to an emergency, and Town Justice Catherine Cahill, who presided over the courtroom, did not want to render a decision in Justice Rana’s absence and postponed it until this Friday.

The Surf Lodge had been scheduled for a hearing before the Town Board since last fall, but had repeatedly postponed it. Town Board members said at the time that the restaurant’s owners hoped that the new Town Board, which was sworn in January 1, would look more favorably on its case.

The board informally agreed Tuesday not to revoke the restaurant’s outdoor music permit, after hearing testimony from Mr. Astarita and Dr. Bonnie Schmitta, who owns the company “Sound Sense,” which is providing noise consultation services to the business.

Ms. Schmitta proposed the construction of a band shell, which would concentrate sound on the people directly in front of the stage, instead of across Fort Pond Bay, where much of the sound now travels. She also cautioned that trains at the Montauk train station, which is not far from the Surf Lodge, sometimes make noise while idling in the station that she believes could be misinterpreted by people across the water as a subwoofer at the restaurant.

Supervisor Bill Wilkinson told Ms. Schmitta that he has heard noise complaints about the Surf Lodge from residents living behind Montauk Manor, which is in the opposite direction from Fort Pond Bay.

Mr. Wilkinson said that his wife had reminded him just that morning of an example of what good engineering can do to eliminate unwanted noise.

“When I lived in California, I lived one mile from the Hollywood Bowl. You couldn’t hear it outside,” he said.

Members of the board also asked Mr. Astarita how much the Surf Lodge had already spent on noise mitigation. He said that his clients have already spent between $40,000 and $50,000 and would likely spend double that amount by the time the band shell is constructed.

“It’s a good idea to try the shell and I believe it will help,” said Councilman Pete Hammerle, who added that he hopes the Surf Lodge continues to pursue an off-site parking plan and provide shuttle bus service to the restaurant when it is busy, in order to alleviate the large number of cars and people walking down the center of Flamingo Road to get to the restaurant.

Mr. Hammerle said that Suffolk County, which owns Flamingo Road, may one day ban parking near The Surf Lodge.

“That’s going to force you to do something,” he said.