Checking Hamptons’ Building Bent, From the Ground Up

Growth controls on luxury housing may be coming to the town of Southampton, N.Y., after earlier moves in East Hampton township and Southold town on the North Fork of Long Island. Southampton councilman Michael Iasilli, a young Democrat with a progressive bent, is taking a slightly different tack in legislation he’s adapting for formal introduction. Whereas the neighboring towns have focused on building size–a direct reaction to the mansionizing of the modern Hamptons and surrounding areas–Iasilli’s plans target “land disturbance.” This gets at the same aim, because most mechanized clearings stem from either a new big residence on raw land or a smaller home on a sizable lot being displaced by one sized for today’s luxury tastes. Iasilli knows that the uprooting of mature trees or the bulldozing of wooded areas, often carried out with little or no warning to neighbors, is a particular trigger of public anger among those (frequently voting residents) who think their peace and beauty is being surrendered to cater to a super-wealthy seasonal crowd. So the councilman’s draft would require permits–subject to review–before 500 square feet is “disturbed” on lots bigger than half an acre. (He says he’s “amenable” to giving ground to an 800-sf threshold.) Some commercial projects would also be covered. If passed by the majority-Democrat council after a public hearing process Iasilli hopes to start next month, this stands to affect much if not most new development in the town. Not for nothing is the fact that traffic–another triggering issue in Southampton–is greatly increased by the “trades” vehicles involved in construction and then in the tending of the landscaped estates that result from it. Iasilli last year spearheaded an official committee to weigh steps toward containing that problem. –Jan 29, 2026

https://patch.com/new-york/southampton/lawmaker-introduces-land-disturbance-legislation-curbing-unfettered-development