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Attorney for Clover House argues stop‑work on Peconic Bay dock lies outside Southampton’s zoning jurisdiction
Summary
A landowner appeal over a stop‑work order for a dock in Little Peconic Bay turned into a legal fight over whether the ZBA can review enforcement tied to state waters. Attorney Martha Reichart told the board the dock sits on state‑owned bottomlands and the trustees, not the town, regulate docks.
Martha Reichart, an attorney for Clover House LLC, asked the Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals on July 2 to overturn a code‑enforcement stop‑work order issued for a dock at 29 Peconic Avenue, saying the structure lies seaward of the town’s zoning boundary and is therefore outside the town’s permitting authority.
Reichart told the board the dock “was built with all of the state and federal permits and approvals that are required” and argued the stop‑work order’s citations to town wetlands and building permit rules do not apply to a freestanding structure located on state‑owned bottomlands. She urged the ZBA to interpret the zoning map and reverse the enforcement determination so the applicant can exhaust administrative remedies before pursuing judicial review.
Board members and the town attorney debated whether the ZBA has authority to hear the appeal. Several members said they were skeptical that the board can resolve wetlands‑permit questions (which the conservation board typically addresses) or determine permitting for structures located seaward of the mean high‑water line. One member described the issue as one that likely belongs in the courts if the ZBA declines jurisdiction.
The board kept the record open for written comments through July 17 and scheduled a decision for Aug. 6. Several members said they expect to consider a narrow jurisdictional ruling — for example, whether the ZBA can review the stop‑work order’s zoning aspects — but several others signaled they may rule that the matter lies outside the ZBA’s appealable scope and should be resolved through other administrative or judicial channels.
What happens next: If the board determines it lacks jurisdiction, the applicant may pursue other administrative paths or seek court review to challenge the stop‑work order. If the board takes jurisdiction, members indicated they would request a fuller legal brief and additional materials before deciding whether to annul the enforcement action.
Evidence and next steps: Reichart’s central line of argument was that the dock is “entirely seaward of the main high waterline” and therefore on underwater lands owned by New York State; she cited town code provisions and historical case law to justify the ZBA’s power to interpret zoning district boundaries. The ZBA left written comments open for the record before its Aug. 6 decision.
