Letters

Adam Shapiro has no shame and no respect for his neighbors, nor for the law [“Butter Lane Tree Farm Sorts Through Issues With Town, Neighbors,” 27east.com, January 17]. He has spent the last five years attempting to bypass the restrictions on the building placed on his property at 625 Butter Lane when he bought it. They were and are quite clear.

There were many beautiful olive trees growing there when he bought it. His poor management caused their death. Likely, it was intentional, because he has persisted in his efforts to build structures on a space intended to be left for plants, not animals.

Bringing alpacas to the Hamptons was clearly a clever ploy to allow him to erect worker housing, a forbidden use in our single-home residential area. Since alpacas are many thousands of miles from their native habitat in the Andes, they require constant attention, which seems to have surprised him when they escaped. He claims to have sold four sweaters’ worth of their wool. That does not a business make. Nor does growing trees not indigenous to our habitat.

His business is running money. And, it seems, forcing me and my neighbors, who abide by the laws and covenants of our area, to spend lots of ours defending our rights to quiet enjoyment. It is disgraceful and shameless behavior. He cannot be allowed to continue this charade any longer. Please notify him that his plans are illegal and immoral and force him to desist his efforts permanently.

We have laws to protect ourselves from this type of behavior. The laws must be enforced, or our democracy is dead.

Niko Elmaleh

Bridgehampton