East End Notebook: Dog Law Passes, Captain Saves a Life & More

SOUTHAMPTON

Boards Weigh Village's Annexation of New Development

The Southampton Town Board and Southampton Village Board held a joint public hearing May 9 to hear arguments on a proposal of a kind that has never come before the boards in the past.

Real estate developers have petitioned the municipalities to redraw the village boundaries, a move that would require the approval of both boards. The Beechwood Organization's planned luxury condominium complex straddles the western border of Southampton Village, but the developers would like the entire complex to be within the village.

Regardless of how residents feel about the annexation, David Gilmartin, a Southampton attorney with the law firm Farrell Fritz, said there is universal agreement that the condo development is an improvement over the Rambo sand and gravel pit and cement and compost manufacturing facility that were once at the site. “This had to be the single most noxious use within the town and village of Southampton,” he said.

WESTHAMPTON-HAMPTON BAYS

Sea Tow Captain Races To Save Fishermen

Lester Trafford, a Sea Tow captain and a diver who volunteers with the Hampton Bays Fire Department, said he knew what he had to do when he heard the Mayday calls of a capsized boat in the Shinnecock Inlet. Without a second thought, he jumped on his boat last Sunday afternoon and headed out into the choppy waters.

RIVERHEAD

Victim's Mom Speaks On Hit-And-Run Arrest

After learning that a woman has been charged in the hit-and-run accident that left her son critically injured, Linda Hartmann said she was relieved by the news.

"I'm happy because it will lessen the stress of not knowing what happened," she said. "I don't feel hatred for the person," she added. Hartmann said she did not know the condition of the driver who struck her son or the circumstances. "I feel sympathy for them, knowing they will now have to go through this, too."

NORTH FORK

Community Comes Together To Bring A Local Home
In times of tragedy, North Fork communities come together to help their own.

Local hip hop artist Mike Check is working to organize a fundraiser for a local family hoping to bring home a relative, Terrance Lawrence, who was badly injured in a dirt bike accident in East Marion almost three years ago.

EAST HAMPTON

East Hampton Village Passes Restriction for Dogs on the Beach
Come July 1, Fido must be on a leash within 300 feet of an East Hampton Village beach entrance. 

At its regular meeting on Friday, the village board approved an amendment to the code that requires dog owners to keep their dogs on a leash from the second Sunday in May to September 30 of each year. During that same time frame, an already existing law prohibits dogs, and other animals, on the beach between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.