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A Springs homeowner has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the purchase of two waterfront properties by East Hampton Town using Community Preservation Fund revenues.
The homeowner, Richard Levin, filed suit on December 24 against the town and The Nature Conservancy, which owns the two properties at 76 and 78 Squaw Road.
Last August, the town agreed to purchase the two properties, totaling 1.6 acres, with some 300 feet of waterfront on Three Mile Harbor, for $2.6 million, with plans to preserve it as open space.
As part of the agreement, The Nature Conservancy is to raze the two existing houses on the lots and return the properties to a “natural state” before handing the land over to the town. The Nature Conservancy applied for demolition permits for the two houses in November, but they have yet to be torn down.
The suit, filed in State Supreme Court, claims that the town has given no good reason for why it purchased the two lots.
In its resolution to make the purchase, the town said it would maintain the properties as a public open space preserve. Officials said at the time that the town would likely create a small, unpaved clearing to allow space to park two or three cars and leave a trail to the water for access, but that the property would not be a “park,” as Mr. Levin’s lawsuit claims.
The town has yet to publish a management plan for the property.
“As required by law, the resolution authorizing purchase of the conservancy properties made a finding that the purchase was the best alternative for the protection of community character of the town,” the lawsuit reads. “This is the farthest from the truth, as creating a public park in a quiet residential neighborhood would certainly be detrimental to the character of the neighborhood and set a dangerous precedent.”
Last summer, Mr. Levin and a small group of neighbors objected to the purchase, saying they feared the property would draw traffic to their street and people walking along the shoreline behind their houses.
Other neighbors spoke in favor of the purchase, saying that the shoreline there isn’t broad enough to attract beachgoers.
In his suit, Mr. Levin claims he offered to pay The Nature Conservancy $4 million for the two properties in September. The lots are legal building lots and the homes on them could be replaced, or possibly even enlarged.
Town Attorney Michael Sendlenski said he would not comment on the lawsuit.
on Jan 25, 2016