Beware of Open Space Next to You?

The Town Board’s purchase of open space throughout the Town of Southold have been overwhelmingly supported by the community. However, when land next to your house or in close proximity to your neighborhood is considered for acquisition by the Town for open space, the surrounding property owners must weigh the benefit of the open space with the detriment which comes from the intrusion into your privacy by the public use of the open space. Recently, intrusion into your private use has expanded. Attorney Pat Moore explains it all here.

The Town Board is ready to define “Demolition”

The issue of “demolition” comes up regularly with waterfront property which has received a variance to build an addition and renovate the existing house.  In addition to a variance, a Southold Town Trustees wetland permit may have been issued The Building Department, Zoning Board and Trustees each have their own interpretation of what constitutes demolition.  [...]

BEWARE the Zoning Board is legislating

The expansion of the Zoning Board’s power began in January 2002 with the “Walz” decision [that is how the Town refers to this type of variance application].  In the Walz case the property, a quarter acre parcel, with a one story house, was 3 feet from one side yard and 6.5 feet from the other [...]

What is “Buildable Land”?

Patricia Mooore Esq. is a land use attorney and since she’s works regularly with environmental regulations, Southold VOICE asked her to explain the question given to the candidates on the topic of Buildable Land. The Town has added layers of regulations without reconciling some of the regulations.

Adventures at the July Trustee’s Meeting

Here are some of the adventures from the Trustees’ meeting- Trustees matters tend to range from the mundane to the most complicated applications. Wednesday night they ran the full course. Among the administrative permits, which by definition are “intended to provide for expedited review for projects and do not pose a threat to the environment,” [...]