Wainscott Sues over Wind Farm Cable, Incorporation Hearing Friday
Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscott, along with the Dune Alpin Farm Property Owners Association and 23 individuals have filed suit against East Hampton Town over its approval of easement agreements for a power transmission cable from the South Fork Wind Farm, as the town prepares to hear public comment Friday on a petition from Wainscott residents to form their own village.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, Feb. 2, charges that the town “improperly rushed the grant of easement prior to the completion of the environmental and regulatory process. The suit claims that the reason for this haste was, in addition to a grab for money, to end-run the Wainscott community’s effort to incorporate as a village,” according to a statement from the group’s public relations firm on Tuesday.
“Supervisor Van Scoyoc totally failed to balance his understandable efforts to facilitate renewable energy with his duty to protect the residents of Wainscott. So he has rushed ahead without hiring any independent experts. He simply turned over our beach and our rural community to this multinational developer,” said Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscott Chairwoman Gouri Edlich in the statement.
Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscott was instrumental in drafting the petition for incorporation, received by East Hampton Town on Dec. 30, which requests that a self-governing village be formed on 4.4 acres of the currently unincorporated hamlet. More than 200 people signed the petition, more than the 20 percent of residents necessary for it to be deemed valid.
The petition is available online here.
The Feb. 5 hearing, which begins at 11 a.m., is to hear public comments on the legal sufficiency of the petition. If Mr. Van Scoyoc deems it legally sufficient after the hearing, the matter of incorporation will be put up for a vote before all of the residents of the proposed village.
The hearing will be conducted virtually through Zoom and broadcast by
LTV, due to Covid-19 safety concerns. The meeting can be viewed live on Channel 22 on on LTV’s YouTube channel, and the board will accept callers with comments at 351.888.6331.
Comments regarding the petition’s legal sufficiency may also be provided by email to cbrennan@ehamptonny.gov, or by mail to the Town Clerk, 159 Pantigo Road, East Hampton, NY 11937.
