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The owners of Cyril’s Fish House and the former Dutch Motel were hit with big fines this week for violating dozens of safety codes.
After no representative of the The Inn at East Hampton, formerly the Dutch Motel, appeared in court to answer to the 60 fire and safety code violations issued by town fire marshals in June, East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky issued the owners a $60,000 fine as a default judgment.
Judge Tekulsky also ordered Clan Fitz Inc, the corporate owner of the now shuttered Cyril’s Fish House in Napeague, to pay $45,000 in fines as punishment for 45 longstanding code violations at the once hugely popular highway-side bar.
After a trial in May, Cyril’s operators were found guilty of 45 of 47 violations, mostly related to alterations to the property made without proper permits, issued by town building inspectors in 2013.
The bar and restaurant’s landlords, members of the Dioguardi family, freed themselves from the criminal charges before the trial by agreeing to make alterations to bring the property’s physical arrangement into compliance with town codes, including removing the main bar from the front of the building. They also agreed to limit all future occupancy of the building to 150 and that all seating and bar areas would be separated from the parking lot and highway behind fencing. Shortly afterward, Cyril’s announced it would close for good. The building is now being offered for lease.
Cyril’s owner, Cyril Fitzsimmons, was not present for Monday’s sentencing.
The Inn at East Hampton has not yet been found guilty of the charges filed against its owners and the fines leveled by Judge Tekulsky on Monday amount to an incentive for the owners to appear in court and face the charges, in lieu of the court’s ability to issue an arrest warrant for an individual.
The charges focus on a variety of fire safety violations at the property, including lack of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in many of the units and overcrowding in some.
The former motel, which is now 20 one-room residences, is owned by a limited liability company, Hampton Land Corp, whose principal is Alex Demitriades, a New York City and Westchester County-based residential apartment operator.
Town Attorney Michael Sendlenski said on Monday that no representative of the East Hampton property has ever responded to the violations.
To get the five-figure fine lifted, the owners or their representatives would have to appear before the judge with both an explanation for why they failed to appear in court and a defense for the violations.
27east on Jul 19, 2016