Letters

Hampton West Estates has, for the most part, been treated at best as a poor stepchild by the Town of Southampton since its inception in 1976 — unwanted (anyone remember the snowstorms where three days would go by with no plowing?), for the most part neglected, dumped on — and despite all that, it remained as one of the few truly affordable housing developments in the town for years.

As time went on, despite the neglect, the area has now improved and has turned into a solid middle class community.

The Sword of Damocles hanging over us has recently been what was to happen to the U.S. Coast Guard housing once it came upon the market. While the town has shown the area’s residents great disrespect by not telling us what the town’s plans were, we have learned enough to know that it is not what it seems. It is not owner-occupied housing in the true sense of homeownership but rather a thinly disguised rental plan for low-income housing.

Our first and only concern is protecting the integrity of Hampton West and the investment every homeowner has made. The town plan runs counter to this. If it turns out that some investor consortium LLC purchases the site, we will deal with that as needed to protect our integrity.

Forest Markowitz

Westhampton Beach