Politics & Government

Board Bites, Approves Shark Attack Party 3-2

Music has to cease by 11 p.m., but party will go on.

The East Hampton Town Board approved a mass gathering permit for the Shark Attack Sounds in Montauk, with one amendment, in a 3-2 vote on Thursday.

Supervisor Bill Wilkinson voted in favor of the party, along with Councilwoman Theresa Quigley and Councilman Dominick Stanzione, the liaison to Montauk, said the July 5 permit at the Montauk Yacht Club was approved with the caveat that the music be shut off by 11 p.m. The application requested music be allowed until 2 a.m. The party can go on longer, but the music has to end then, he said.

Last year, the bash was shut down after officials said it got out of control, clogging up the road and blocking emergency vehicle access.

Ben Watts, a fashion photographer and the brother of the actress Naomi Watts, switched the party, now in its 11th year, from Rick's Crabby Cowboy on East Lake Drive to the Montauk Yacht Club on West Lake Drive. The permit allows for up to 3,900 people. The party was described on the application as a fundraiser for the Montauk Playhouse Community Center.

Wilkinson said he did not feel the town could prohibit a party from taking place at the yacht club, a commercial establishment with a good reputation. "As the police chief put it, this was the most thorough application the town has ever seen," he said.

Thomas W. Horn, a Sag Harbor-based attorney retained for the mass gathering permit, said, "The level of sophistication demonstrated in the preplan was impressive and we believe it gave the board and various town department heads confidence that the event will be conducted professionally. The preplan has probably set a new standard of what others will be expected to comply with in the future."

In a letter to the town clerk with the application on June 3, Horn said, "The location of the event seems almost ideal. When features of the area are reviewed, it should be noted that Star Island Drive in Montauk is a peninsula with minimal regular traffic. It is a commercial area with only one other business near the event site of the Montauk Yacht Club."

While he acknowledged that wind will likely carry sound, he said it will not cause a disruption. "Will there be silence? No. Will anyone be deprived of the peaceful enjoyment of his or her property? The answer is also, no," he wrote.

"What is too often forgotten in the Town of East Hampton is that a commercial property owner has a right to use his or her property, and since this sie is one of the larger developed, yet open, parcels in the hamlet of Montauk, this is a fair and reasonable use of commercial property," he said.

The permit also allows for 20 tents, a lighted stage, and 32 portable toilets. Party-goers will park at Rita's Stables on West Lake Drive and buses will shuttle guests to the yacht club.

The plan also includes a multi-level security presence and sobriety checkpoints that will keep intoxicated guests from attending. Arrangements have been made for two emergency medical technicians and an ambulance to be on duty throughout the party. According to the permit, they will keep in contact with the East Hampton Town police and Montauk Fire Department ambulance company.

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