Judge dismisses lawsuit against proposed East Quogue golf community

The developer behind a proposed golf community in East Quogue cleared another major hurdle this week after a Suffolk judge dismissed a lawsuit from environmentalists and local residents that sought to overturn the Southampton Planning Board’s approval.

Acting State Supreme Court Justice Carmen St. George granted the dismissal Tuesday “for lack of standing."

That will allow Arizona-based developer Discovery Land Company to proceed with its plan for the proposed Lewis Road development that will feature 130 residential units and an 18-hole golf course, among other amenities.

The project, once known as “The Hills,” is set to become one of the largest developments in the environmentally sensitive pine barrens.

Attorney Steven Barshow, who represents the developer, said the decision removes a “roadblock” since the litigation had prevented clearing of the site. Legal wrangling over the project, which would include preserving 436 acres as open space, has stretched over several years.

A pair of environmental groups and several East Quogue neighbors filed what's known as Article 78 litigation in January, arguing the proposed development received approval from the planning board in December despite zoning restrictions that don't permit a resort. The litigation also named the planning board and Southampton Town Board.

Claudia Braymer, the attorney for the petitioners, told Newsday her team is reviewing the decision and they plan to appeal it.

Lawyers on both sides of the case said the petitioners now would need to obtain an injunction from an appellate court to stop the development.

Barshow said he believed the environmental groups "are not infallible" and misstated the potential environmental impacts.

“How many communities are there all across the United States that have golf courses as part of the residential development? There’s thousands,” he said. “This is not a big stretch.”

Last year, a judge dismissed a 2019 lawsuit filed from the same environmental groups over the town's preliminary subdivision approval. The judge in this case cited that decision and said the petitioners raised the same arguments so it could not be relitigated.

Braymer said they disagree with the judge.

“We brought different arguments than we brought before and we also have new petitioners that weren’t part of the prior case. And the project design changed since the prior case," she said.

Robert DeLuca, president of the nonprofit Group for the East End and a suit petitioner, said in an email to Newsday that the judge’s decision was “deeply concerning to any citizen who believes that the actions of nonelected land use boards should be subject to public scrutiny and objective review by the courts.”

Braymer said a 2018 lawsuit remains pending against the Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals after its decision that the golf course could be considered an accessory use to a residential subdivision.

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

---