Investor and former Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner purchased Amagansett property over the summer and immediately began clearing trees — a move that the Peconic Land Trust charges violates a conservation easement it owns on that property.
Now, with deed recording data provided by The Real Estate Report Inc., we can report the price Mr. Lerner paid for 341 Town Lane: $12.5 million.
The Peconic Land Trust obtained a temporary retraining order on August 8 to prevent further clearing and the matter remains in court. The land trusts says up to 125 native trees were removed and is asking for punitive damages of $1 million per tree — potentially ten times as much as Mr. Lerner paid for 341 Town Lane. Mr. Lerner maintains that he cleared the trees for an allowed purpose, namely planting fruit trees and field crops.
A number of past online reports have erroneously identified actor Alec Baldwin as the owner of 341 Town Lane, but the owner before Mr. Lerner was Robert Rosen. Mr. Baldwin does have a home on Town Lane, however, and he identified himself in a letter to The East Hampton Star as one of the people who reported the clear-cutting to the Peconic Land Trust.
According to the East Hampton Town assessment roles, Mr. Rosen owned both the house at 341 Town Lane and a parcel on Stoney Hill Road with no street number. It appears to be the case that the property with no street number was the 6-acre parcel subject to the conservation agreement.
Staff Writer on Sep 27, 2019