Quiet Enjoyment of Property

The Town of East Hampton has adopted the “Town of East Hampton Zoning Law” § 255-1-11 “for the purpose of promoting the health, safety and general welfare of the people of the Town of East Hampton by regulating the uses of lots and lands and the dimensions, locations and uses of buildings and structures throughout the Town,” more specifically in:

“B. Protection of neighborhoods: to protect the established character of neighborhoods, especially residential neighborhoods, the    social and economic well-being of residents and the value of private and public property.”

 “H. Safety and health: to secure safety from fire, panic, flood, storm and other dangers, to provide adequate light, air and convenience of access for all properties, to avoid the creation of nuisances and other conditions impinging upon the quiet enjoyment and use of property and to prevent environmental pollution and degradation of whatever kind.”

 And § 255-1-50 Nuisances Prohibited: “In addition to the other regulations of land uses in this chapter, any trade, industry, activity or use which, when lawfully conducted, is determined to create toxic or harmful fumes, gases, smoke or odors or obnoxious dust, vapors, noises or vibrations disruptive of the quiet enjoyment of neighboring properties shall be prohibited.”

 What does the Town Law mean when it promised us the “Quiet Enjoyment of our Property” I am sure every person asked that question to will give a different answer and I am sure that every attorney asked that question to will give a different answer. I can tell you what is NOT the quiet enjoyment of our property and I am sure everyone will agree:

 On Monday, June 7th at 3:23am a helicopter landed at East Hampton Airport; at 3:38am a helicopter took off at East Hampton Airport. From 3:23am to 3:38am that helicopter was permitted to operate on Town owned land by our Town Supervisor and the Town Board Members who are the persons responsible for the operations at East Hampton Airport. On Thursday, June 10th at 1:59am an airplane taxied on the runway at East Hampton Airport and took off. Again the airplane was permitted to operate on East Hampton Town owned land.

 We can discuss how selfish, arrogant and inconsiderate the pilots and the owners of these aircraft are for operating the aircraft with no consideration to the time at night and the people they wake up in the middle of the night but I am not going to do that this time.

 I am calling upon our Town Supervisor and our Town Board Members to make their home phone or cell phone numbers available to the public, (You know the phone that is on their nightstand next to their bed.), so when people in the residential district are awakened by aircraft, they can call them, to also wake them up in the middle of the night. That is only fair. If not, then they should make the necessary changes…we should not be awakened in the middle of the night by a Town airport that is not being operated in compliance to Town law.

The Town Supervisor and Town Board Members are operating the East Hampton Airport in violation of Town Laws. The Town needs to figure out how to comply with Town laws, or they need to shut the airport down, like they do to every other business in Town that violates the law. The Town Supervisor and the Town Board Members have the power to shut East Hampton Airport down regardless of what they tell us. The airport has been shut down many times in the past for many different reasons. Remember the FAA told us they couldn’t do anything. We know now that was hogwash.

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