UPDATE: Southampton Town Board Votes Down The Hills Proposal Tuesday

The Town Board voted down The Hills PDD law in a 3-2 vote on Tuesday afternoon.

Ms. Lofstad and Mr. Bouvier both voted against the law, explaining in separate speeches that they have concerns about the development’s environmental impacts.

“It’s not a good project in this location,” Ms. Lofstad said.

“There are so many unknowns,” added Mr. Bouvier, referring especially to the developer’s proposed nitrogen mitigation techniques.

Both of the Town Board members questioned the fertigation technique—a process where contaminated water in recycled on the golf course—the development’s potential to pollute the aquifer, and noted that the proposed wastewater treatment system has yet to be approved by Suffolk County.

On the other side of the debate, Mr. Schneiderman, Mr. Glinka and Ms. Scalera all voted in favor of the project—each citing the benefits the proposal could have on the East Quogue community.

“The PDD gives us more control about what happens on the property from now until the foreseeable future,” Ms. Scalera said ahead of the vote.

All three of the project supporters on the Town Board noted that they believe the PDD would have been the best option for the economy, school district and environment in East Quogue.

The meeting lasted nearly three hours and attracted more than 100 people. People both supporting and opposing the development stood during the public portion to voice their opinions one last time and thank the Town Board for spending “hundreds” of hours studying the application.

The Southampton Town Board is expected to vote Tuesday on the controversial planned development district law that will determine the fate of a proposed luxury golf course resort community in East Quogue.

The development, called The Hills at Southampton, has been a lightning rod of debate in the community for years, with seemingly half the residents in support for the project and half against. Tuesday’s vote—which calls for the support of four out of the five Town Board members, or a supermajority—will determine if the developer, Arizona-based Discovery Land Company, would be permitted to change the zone of the nearly 600 acre property and build 118 residential units and an 18-hole golf course.

Just before the vote on Tuesday at 1 p.m. inside Southampton Town Hall, the Town Board will be voting on the findings statement for the project—the document, which was written in support of the project, has been revised three times. The acceptance of the statement is the final step of the State Environmental Review Process and needs to be passed in order for the town to vote on the PDD law.

Both votes are expected to receive a 3-2 vote, meaning that the findings statement would pass but not the PDD law. Councilman John Bouvier and Councilwoman Julie Lofstad have both said that they would not support a positive findings statement on the project and suggested they would vote the same on the final PDD law.

If the PDD law is voted down, the developer plans to build a 137-unit subdivision—including 13 affordable housing units. The development would also include other amenities such as a clubhouse, pool, event lawn, putting course and short game area, boathouse, pond clubhouse, four tennis courts, four pickleball courts, and sports fields.