The owners of 40 acres of farmland in western Wainscott have filed a lawsuit against East Hampton Town over the town Planning Board’s rejection in April of subdivision plans.
The suit was filed on June 10 by attorneys for the owner of 55 Wainscott Hollow Road—an LLC believed to be held by computer scion Michael Dell and developer Jeffrey Colle. It asks the court to overturn the April decision of the Planning Board because the board seemed to contradict its own previous declarations that plans addressed the main concerns from neighbors about interrupted vistas.
The plans for the property, which were redrawn twice, called for seven lots, ranging from a half acre to 2.5 acres in size, to be scattered around the edges of the 40 acre property, which lies between Wainscott Hollow Road and Sayers Path, south of Montauk Highway.
About 28 acres of the land, would be preserved as farmland, in accordance with town agricultural preservation requirements. Town code requires 70 percent preservation.
Neighbors complained that the layout of the lots would obstruct public views across the preserved farmlands, a stated goal of town preservation codes.
The Planning Board voted 3-3, with member Diana Weir absent for the vote. Ms. Weir, who lives in Wainscott, had voiced objections to the final designs at previous meetings but the approval was denied by virtue of not earning a four-vote majority in favor.
It was the second time the Planning Board had rejected a development proposal on the property—and the second time that a rejection resulted in a lawsuit.
In 2009, a development plan by Mr. Colle calling for a single estate at one end of the property was rejected because the board said the plans, and the potential for a future subdivision, did not go to the greatest lengths possible to preserve prime agricultural soils for farming use. Mr. Colle sued and had the decision overturned by a judge, but had abandoned the estate plans in the interim.
The owners purchased the property in 2006, for $26 million.
on Jun 29, 2015