Attorney: Wainscott Rezoning Denial Will 'Haunt' Town

The East Hampton Town Board denied during its meeting Thursday night.

But, the board's consideration to deny the application of the .93-acre parcel, located at 357 Montauk Hwy. in Wainscott, was met with opposition by the legal representative of the owner.

Stuyvesant Wainwright said the board's impending denial, rather than simply saying yay or nay to the application, was "kind of backward" and could set a difficult precedent.

The Wainscott property was originally approved for semi-public facilities, which include community centers, museums, fraternal lodges, schools, and similar nongovernmental buildings. The owner seeks to classify the property for the commercial "central business zoning."

"A decision to deny … will come back to haunt this court," Wainwright said at the meeting Thursday. Wainwright claimed it was inevitable that the will leave the property, and a denial of rezoning would unfairly limit the owner's efforts to find new tenants.

Wainwright said the owner would be willing to preclude certain uses deemed unfeasible, asking the board to consider an alternative motion than categorically denying the application.

The board voted 4-1 to deny both application based on inconsistencies with the town's Comprehensive Plan and public comments opposing the rezoning.

Councilman Theresa Quigley was the lone dissenter, but did not make public comments regarding why she supported the requests.

Wainwright said in an interview Saturday that the town's vision of turning the property into a park with money from the already-tight Community Preservation Fund is a "fantasy."

"And, you need a willing seller," he said.

The property is owned by Wainscott Pooh, LLC, which is based in New York City, next door to where real estate developer Donald Zucker is based. Zucker operates his Sag Harbor Village real estate under the corporation Sag Harbor Pooh, according to The New York Times.

Wainwright would neither confirm or deny Zucker is the owner of the Wainscott property.

However, he told the board on Thursday, "This owner, Mr. Zucker, he has the ability to hold the property for a very, very long time even if it's deralict and non-productive."

There is approximately eight years left on the postal service's lease.

Wainwright argued that the paints a bleak future for the Wainscott location. In July, the U.S. Postal Service announced the potential closing of more than 3,000 post offices around the country.