Pine Barrens Commission Cancels Jurisdiction Hearing Regarding 'The Hills'

The Pine Barrens Commission decided at the last minute to cancel a public hearing called to decide if the group had the authority to weigh in on a proposed luxury golf resort in East Quogue that had been scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at Brookhaven Town Hall.

The hearing was initially called by Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, a member of the commission. She noted that she wanted to hold the hearing so it could be decided if the commission had jurisdiction over “The Hills at Southampton” application.

The commission decided to cancel the hearing during an executive session about 45 minutes into the meeting. By canceling the hearing, the commission agreed to weigh in on the project, meaning that the developer of the project, Arizona-based Discovery Land Company, would have to get the commission’s opinion when they present a state environmental impact statement to Southampton Town.

Mark Hissey, vice president of Discovery Land Company, said Wednesday afternoon that he expects the massive environmental impact statement to be complete in November.

When the commission returned to the auditorium to deliver the news that the hearing would not happen, Ms. Throne-Holst still maintained that holding the hearing was a good idea.

“Since I had called for the public hearing—what I believe was for very good reason, which was because to some of us it was unclear if this qualified to assert jurisdiction over,” Ms. Throne-Holst said. “… But I am fully in agreement in holding that discussion and clarifying what may be some gray area there—which I think we all agree there is some gray area there,” Ms. Throne-Holst continued. “I think this is a better way to go about it because then it becomes a discussion in the language rather than about a particular application.”

Carolyn Zenk, a former Town Board member and environmental attorney said she wasn’t surprised that the board canceled the hearing because the Pine Barrens Commission is already considered an involved agency for the project.

“Anna Throne-Holst did the right thing,” Ms. Zenk said. “We didn’t think the hearing should have been opened to begin with. Having this hearing would be like having a hearing on does the town board have zoning powers? Of course it does.”