Today’s Newsday catches up with East Hampton township’s reductions in just how large houses there can be built. This issue has gathered on the East End of Long Island, N.Y., in recent years as “mansionization” is blamed for changing the characters of neighborhoods–both visually and demographically–and for quickening the rise in land and thus home prices. East Hampton–which includes hamlets such as Montauk, Amagansett and Springs–has long been tougher on developers than other nearby towns. So, its adoption of a modified tightening ordinance was not out of character, though builders and some property owners are complaining that the new strictures will limit not just big “spec” construction for high-end seasonal use (the primary target) but the enlargement of smaller homes with growing families. This debate should soon spread to neighboring Southampton town, which has been seen as more lax in its development controls. The prospect of a revised general plan there–tied to traffic that stems from trade vehicles serving expensive properties–is vaguely at issue in a town board election on Nov. 4.
https://www.newsday.com/long-island/towns/east-hampton-new-house-size-rules-k116em89
Tim W. Ferguson 