UPDATE: Town Officials Respond To Shinnecock Plan For Billboards On Sunrise Highway In Hampton Bays

UPDATE: Monday, 5:05 p.m.

Southampton Town officials met with Shinnecock Indian Nation tribal leaders on Monday, asking them to stop construction of two “memorials” along Sunrise Highway, just west of the Shinnecock Canal.

A letter signed by all five members of the Southampton Town Board was hand-delivered to the tribal leaders. In the letter, the Town Board members refer to Southampton as “our” home, saying the two communities—the Nation and the town—have lived and worked together for many years.

But town officials say they were “disheartened” when they found out about the proposed electronic billboards.

“These ‘urban’ style illuminated signs, towering above the pine trees, are in stark contrast to all that represents the natural and scenic beauty of the town,” the letter reads. “They are completely out of scale and character with the area, completely out of sync with the laws we have enacted to limit visual and light pollution, and instead exemplify the very degradation such, overdeveloped, urban-styled features have on the bucolic landscape we have all fought to preserve.”

The letter also notes that the signs may pose a threat to the safety of motorists.

Officials later asked tribal leaders, in the letter, to not “diminish” any beauty the town and tribe have worked together to protect from overdevelopment.

“We have learned many lessons about land stewardship from the Shinnecock, but these so-called ‘monuments’ seem in direct conflict with these teachings,” the letter read.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Plans by members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation to construct two 60-foot-tall billboards along Sunrise Highway in Hampton Bays—just west of the Shinnecock Canal—are currently underway, but Southampton Town officials want the work to stop.

Steven Troyd, the public safety emergency management administrator for the Town of Southampton, said on Friday that the tribe is planning to build two billboards—one on the north side of Sunrise Highway and one on the south—that would include an electronic display nearly 46 feet up. Below the electronic display will be a portion of the sign that would give the time and temperature, and the top of the sign would have the Shinnecock Nation’s seal.

Mr. Troyd said his department planned to issue a stop work order to crews on Friday because site plans have not been approved for the signs.

“I don’t think anything this large would be approved. Nothing 60 feet tall is being built here,” he said. “We believe that because they’re on the right-of-way for the state, that we can issue a stop work order, which is what we’re planning to do.”

The order was, in fact, issued on Friday, according to Tribal Trustee Lance Gumbs. He said the billboard project was his, and that the Town Code Enforcement Division has no authority over tribal land.

Mr. Gumbs added that the work would continue.

The land where the signs are being erected is part of the Westwoods property, which at one time was being looked at for a casino.

The tribe, Mr. Troyd said, is also referring to the billboards as “monuments,” and plans have been submitted to the state notifying them about the project.

“It’s a state road, and we’re aware that the tribe has provided a plan to the Department of Transportation, but they aren’t asking for approvals because they feel it’s a sovereign issue there, which may, in fact, be the case,” he said. “Nothing has been filed with the town.”

Mr. Troyd said that the contractors currently clearing land at the site have been issued summonses because they are not licensed with the town, and that the stop work order was the next step.

“I think this is just part of the process,” he said. “If they ignore that, we’re going to continue to work on getting the state involved and the federal highway administration as well.”