Southampton Town's Conservation Board Says The Hills Project May Hurt The Environment

Southampton Town’s Conservation Board has expressed concerns about a development project in East Quogue, just days before a final vote on the project is expected next week.

In an opinion to the Town Board, the Conservation Board said it’s hard to support “The Hills at Southampton,” a proposed golf course resort development off Spinney Road, noting the “enormity” of the proposal and “its possible effects on wetlands, pine barrens and ground water quality.”

Pitched by Arizona-based Discovery Land Company, the 118-unit housing development and golf course requires a local law creating special zoning on the site, which covers more than 600 acres.

During a special meeting on December 5 at 1 p.m. in Southampton Town Hall, the Town Board will take two votes related to the project: It will vote to accept the findings statement, the last step in a required state environmental review, and on a proposed law creating a planned development district to clear the way for the project. The first vote requires only majority approval, but the latter requires a supermajority—four of five board members—and is expected to come up short. Councilman John Bouvier and Councilwoman Julie Lofstad have both said they will not support the project, also citing environmental concerns.

While the Conservation Board will never have the project formally before it, as there are no wetlands on the property, in a letter to Supervisor Jay Schneiderman on November 15, the board pointed to several issues the proposed development could have on the environment.

In the letter, signed by Conservation Board Chairman Harry Ludlow, the board worried that the golf course “may contaminate the drinking water supply, as well as Weesuck Creek and the greater Shinnecock Bay.” The letter also calls for clearing standards beyond what is required in the Aquifer Protection Overlay District because of the “heightened environmental sensitivity of this site,” however the property is eventually developed.

Additionally, the Conservation Board suggested that the developer should be required to install alternate onsite wastewater treatment systems for any homes not hooked up to a sewage treatment plant.

The Conservation Board was the only interested party that did not support the project. Both the Suffolk County Planning Commission and the town’s Planning Board have supported the project—albeit with some conditions related to its potential impact on the environment—while the Pine Barrens Commission declined to make a recommendation until the application was formally in front of its board.