Forum to be Held on House Size in Southold Town

The Southold Town Civic Associations and the Southold Town Board are holding a virtual public meeting on Tuesday, May 25 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss limiting the size of houses in Southold Town.

All community members are invited to attend and share their views on this topic which the civic associations stress “is of vital interest for community character and the future of our town.”

The zoom link for the meeting is available on the Southold Town website here:

“There is a growing urgency to address the trend of huge homes in our community before it is changed forever – its charm, and character destroyed,” say the group, which is comprised of leaders from all of the civic assocations in Southold Town. “The Southold Town Civic Associations are calling on the Southold Town Board, under the leadership of Town Supervisor Scott Russell, to act before the end of the year to ensure that the hamlets which make up Southold Town are protected and preserved.”

The town board adopted a Comprehensive Plan, titled “Vision 2020,” last year. A core pillar of that plan is the conservation of community character, and one of the suggestions in that plan for preserving community character is to set limits on house size in relation to lot coverage.

“Revisions would still allow growth, development, and renovation of housing, but would safeguard outsized development and destructive speculative behavior,” say the civic groups.

The Southold Civic Associations have reviewed the codes from other East End towns and are proposing changes similar to those in Sag Harbor and Southampton villages.

The proposal, which the Civics will present at the May 25 public meeting, will be available on the Southold Town Civic Associations website.

The Southold Town Civic Associations members are the Cutchogue Civic Association, the East Marion Community Association, the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association, the New Suffolk Civic Association, and the Orient Association.