Letters

I would like to commend Diane and Henry Riewerts on their recent letter to The Press describing the Southampton Town Conservation Board’s recent absurd decision offering site plan relief in an application by a longtime town employee [“Showing Special Favor,” Letters, November 5]. This decision ultimately allowed movement of a septic system almost 40 feet closer toward wetlands, allowing the system that had previously been largely in compliance with the 100-foot setbacks to now encroach well beyond those limits in order to make room for an accessory building on a heavily restricted lowland lot.

This is beyond the pale and an egregious breach of the public trust. I thank them both for bringing this to our attention; they are new to the community and I’m sure this took a degree of courage.

As a retired builder who spent 45 years working on the East End, I am well aware of the 100-foot setback, as is every other builder and lowland site plan approval applicant. The obvious consequence of this inexplicable favoritism is that now that the camel’s nose is under the tent — where will the next boneheaded decision lead to, and to whose favor?

Such actions need to be exposed and stopped whenever possible.

John Porta

Westhampton