Southampton Town suing Shinnecock Indian Nation over Hampton Bays travel plaza construction

The Town of Southampton filed suit against the trustees of the Shinnecock Indian Nation on Friday over the construction of a 10-acre gas station and travel plaza in Hampton Bays, arguing it creates a public nuisance that violates zoning ordinances as well as state and local laws.

Lance Gumbs, vice chairman of the Shinnecock council of trustees, said Saturday that he had not seen the complaint but vowed to fight the suit.

“We’re back in this situation where the town has come against the Shinnecock Nation and basically declared war against us,” he said. “We won’t stop construction. We will continue construction. The town does not have any jurisdiction over our tribal lands whatsoever.”

Tribal leaders have said that the development would create a crucial revenue stream for the tribe.

“It’s going to provide stability for our nation, for our organization, to just function,” trustee Bianca Collins told Newsday in March.

The town, however, charges that the Sunrise Highway travel plaza, which is to include a 20-bay gas station and smoke shop, is the first phase of a resort construction project that would dramatically change the character of the area, clearing large wooded areas abutting private homes and overburdening the roadways with increased traffic, according to the suit.

The Shinnecock trustees, acting on behalf of the Nation, never sought permission to clear the land or install underground tanks for the travel plaza, the suit claims. The adjacent Newtown Road was dug up and driveways and curbcuts were installed for the development without seeking permission from the highway superintendent, the town or the state, town lawyers say.

In August, according to court papers, a town-issued stop-work order posted at the site was cut down. The trustees failed to get fire safety and building permits for the gas tanks and travel plaza construction, which the town said “poses a danger to the health and safety of the town’s residents and environment.” Additionally, the suit said, “failure to obtain the necessary approval and permitting regarding the building and fire codes, property access, parking, lighting, drainage, public utilities and noise impacts risks irreparable environmental and community harm."

Recently, the area was paved over, again without the proper permitting, the town alleged.

“[Shinnecock trustees'] unauthorized construction of the Travel Plaza has increased traffic congestion, noise, pollution and debris on the local roads not designed to accommodate heavy equipment of an increased load,” the suit said.

Southampton says that the travel plaza will also strain fire, police and ambulance services.

The Shinnecock Nation leaders have said that they don’t need the town’s OK to go through with the project. They regard the plot, which is part of an 80-acre parcel referred to as Westwoods, as sovereign land outside the jurisdiction of state and local laws, Brian Polite, former Shinnecock chairman, told Newsday earlier this year.

In the lawsuit, however, Southampton lawyers referenced two land sales of the Westwoods property: one from the tribe’s Sachem Wyandanch to the European settler John Ogden on May 12, 1659, and another in April 1662 by tribal leader Weany Sunk Squaw to settler Thomas Topping. They said the tribe did not use the land from the 17th- to the 18th-century.

“Because the Nation’s aboriginal title to the Westwoods parcel has been extinguished, the Nation cannot claim sovereignty over Westwoods to avoid compliance with applicable state and local law,” according to the suit.

Gumbs pointed to statements made by two Southampton town board members who voted against the decision to sue the tribe. They noted that historical maps describe the Westwoods property as “Indian reservation” that has never been taxed.

“Whatever they come back with we’ll respond to that in a way that best addresses what the Nation needs to do,” Gumbs said. “We have to wait and see now. The vote was obviously taken by the town board, and there were quite a number of Shinnecock people who spoke against it.”

In addition to halting the project, the town also seeks legal fees.

With Mark Harrington