The Hills At Southampton Golf Course Application Deemed Complete

Developers looking to build a controversial golf course and housing subdivision in East Quogue will go back before the Southampton Town Board to pitch a plan to cluster development rights from multiple properties onto one 168-acre building lot.

The updated plan now calls for the construction of 108 single-family homes, a clubhouse that would contain 10 condominium units and an 18-hole golf course on the 168 acres. Approximately 98 acres will be set aside for the golf course.

The application for The Hills at Southampton, a proposed mixed-use planned development district, or PDD, was deemed incomplete in November because it was missing multiple pieces of information, including the current building yield for two of the four parcels included in the project, known as the Kracke and Parlato properties. The 62-acre Kracke property will be part of the development with 13 homes, while the 101-acre Parlato property will be designated as open space.

According to a document submitted to the town last week by the Arizona-based Discovery Land Company, the residential yield on the Kracke parcel would be 12 units and the Parlato property could hold up to 24 units. Discovery Land will not close on either property, however, unless the change of zoning application is approved by the Town Board. Previously, community members had questioned the developers’ claim that the as-of-right yield on the properties totaled 118 single-family homes.

If the mixed-use PDD is approved, the development rights from those two properties would be added to The Hills South parcel, a 168-acre tract located between Spinney and Lewis roads, with an as-of-right yield of 82 homes. The Hills North parcel, located north of Sunrise Highway and totaling 87 acres, will be set aside as open space.

It is not known when the Town Board will review the application again. Town Planning and Development Administrator Kyle Collins did not return calls or emails seeking comment this week.

The new houses, which will be marketed as second and third homes, will be occupied by “part-time vacation residents that are primarily existing ‘members’ of other Discovery Land Company resort communities,” according to the revised application. Officials estimate that residents will be in the homes an average of 60 days per year, over the summer months.

Mark Hissey, senior vice president of Discovery Land, said the company has not yet set prices for the homes or golf club memberships. “We will be capping the number of members at around 200,” Mr. Hissey said on Tuesday, explaining that those members will be able to invite family and friends to the course.

Additionally, Discovery Land officials included five other pieces of information that were missing from the 76-page document that was submitted in November, including an appraisal of the properties, fiscal and economic impacts of the development, the value of the proposed community benefits, a list of owners of the neighboring properties and a description of how appropriate the development is for the East Quogue community.

According to an appraisal submitted in the application by Cushman and Wakefield, an Islandia-based real estate brokerage, the value of all four properties combined would increase by $14 million if the change of zone is approved. If the property is developed based on the current zoning, which would place 118 homes throughout the properties, with no land set aside for open space or a golf course, the firm calculated a market value of $30 million. If The Hills is developed and the 118 homes were clustered, that number would jump to $44 million, according to the document.

Mr. Hissey said he did not know how the estimates were calculated, or why the golf course and cluster construction adds that much value. A representative from Cushman and Wakefield did not immediately return calls seeking comment this week.

“It’s a tough thing to ask, because there’s never been a project like this out here,” Mr. Hissey said.

Discovery Land officials also report considerable increases in tax revenue if the project is approved. According to the application, officials predict that the development would generate about $5.5 million in tax revenue annually, of which nearly $4.4 million would go to the East Quogue School District. No children will be enrolled in the district due to covenant restrictions that would be set up if the development receives Town Board approval; how those covenants would work has not been explained thus far.

If the properties were developed as of right, Discovery Land officials state that they would generate a total of $2.1 million in tax revenue annually, $1.8 million of which would go to the school. Children living in the single-family homes could also enroll in the school district.

According to the listed community benefits that Discovery Land included as part of the PDD application, about 150 jobs would be created, including 70 full-time positions that would pay a total of $5.1 million annually. Mr. Hissey said most of the jobs would be related to the clubhouse and golf course, noting that the company would hire more employees than a typical golf club.

There are 15 community benefits listed on the application, down from 19 that were submitted in November. The old list included the estimated $4.4 million per year added to the tax base; it was removed because the town does not consider it a benefit. The town also said that the lining proposed for certain areas of the golf course was not considered a benefit either. Two other benefits were combined with the 15 that were pitched to the town under the revised application.

The plan lists 15 such benefits—with an estimated value of $3.4 million for the first year, and $10 million per year after that, according to the firm—and they include providing enhanced wastewater treatment where it is feasible for The Hills; participating in research of high-tech septic systems for use in the town; adding watershed improvements that would benefit Weesuck Creek and the western portion of Shinnecock Bay; providing more downtown parking in East Quogue; and restoring habitats in the open space on The Hills South, the Kracke and Parlato properties, as well as in Shinnecock Bay.

Those benefits are worth about $2.3 million, according to Discovery Land’s estimates.

The list also includes five benefits geared toward the East Quogue School District. The plans ensure, through a restrictive covenant, that no children from the development would attend the elementary school, reducing the impact on the district financially. The golf course would be open to students who are members of the Westhampton Beach High School golf team and also for educational programs, and would host about five charity outings per year to benefit the school or town. The developers also pledge to fund improvements to the East Quogue School’s soccer field, install sidewalks and a crosswalk from Spinney Road to Old Country Road, and to dedicate nine-tenths of an acre to the district.

Those benefits total $620,000 for the first year and would bring in about $5 million annually, according to the application.

A more specific analysis of the fiscal and economic impacts of the development will be prepared if the Town Board issues a positive declaration under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQRA, which would mean that Discovery Land needs to provide a Draft Environmental Impact Statement as well.

The final bit of information requested by the town, a description of how appropriate this project would be for the East Quogue community, was also included in the revised application. The project was designed to “complement the area’s rural character,” and also the “architectural character of the area and maximize retention and regard for natural resources,” according to the document.

It also lists 10 ways that the proposal conforms to Southampton Town’s Comprehensive Plan Update, which was published in 1999 and describes the types of development the town would like to see in the future while also preserving the natural look and feel of the town, while providing community benefits.

Some hamlet residents, including East Quogue Civic Association President Al Algieri, remain skeptical of the application.

“We’re going to dissect this thing,” Mr. Algieri said on Tuesday, noting that he had not yet reviewed the revised document.

Regardless of what is being proposed, Mr. Algieri said he has already made his mind up about The Hills. “It’ll be a wreck,” he said. “It’ll be the end of the East End as we know it.”

The plan submitted last week was very different from the pre-application that was previously approved by the Town Board in January 2014. The original called for the construction of only 82 single-family houses on 436 acres that sit north of Montauk Highway, between Lewis and Spinney roads, and continuing north across Sunrise Highway.

The Town Board approved the pre-application, 4-1, with Councilwoman Bridget Fleming casting the only opposing vote.