A headline in THE SOUTHAMPTON PRESS today exclaims, “Pot Shop Says It Will Open Next to School Without Permits From Southampton Town.”

Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the cannabis dispensary licensees who were told by Southampton Town last month that their planned location is not a legal location for a dispensary, because it neighbors the Tuckahoe School…immediately adjacent to the Tuckahoe School playground…plan to open for business next week regardless — without applying for any permits from the Town of Southampton. A roadside sign and new custom awnings — as well as a customized Moke electric car — emblazoned with the branding for Charlie Fox, went up just before Labor Day weekend at the building on the north side of County Road 39 which used to be home to the Hampton Car Club. It’s the name of a boutique dispensary that previously operated in Manhattan’s Times Square and was fined $50,000 by New York State for violating cannabis sales regulations. The company announced through a public relations company last week that it would be opening for business as a state-licensed cannabis dispensary on September 14 — touting itself as the first such dispensary to open in the Hamptons — despite not having been granted, or even formally applied for, any of the approvals required by Southampton Town for a dispensary, or any other commercial enterprise, to open for business. At a discussion last month, Southampton Town planning staff pointed out that the former car club property shares a property line with the Tuckahoe Common School…for students from kindergarten through 8th grade…which violates the town’s guidelines for cannabis dispensaries and appears, town staff pointed out, to violate a recently updated clarification of State OCM requirements that said cannabis dispensaries may not be operated within 500 feet of any school’s property line.

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The 2,400 acres of commercial waterfront property spanning Suffolk County could now be eligible for preservation under a new waterfront protection program. Joe Werkmeister reports in NEWSDAY that the Suffolk County Legislature unanimously approved a bill yesterday to create the program, which mirrors a farmland preservation program enacted in 1974. The goal is to preserve the waterfront access critical for the commercial fisheries, aquaculture, recreational fishing and boating businesses to survive.

The bill’s passage "will begin to turn the tide and preserve and protect the character and history of farming and fishing that Suffolk County is steeped in," said Legis. Ann Welker (D-Southampton), the bill's co-sponsor.

The county funded $2.5 million for the program in 2026 through the capital budget and $9.5 million total over the first three years.

"Our industries are facing development pressure across Suffolk County and we need to protect them," said Legis. Catherine Stark (R-Riverhead), who also co-sponsored the bill.

The next step — once signed into law by County Executive Edward P. Romaine, who supports the program — is to create a 17-member committee that will review applications submitted by landowners seeking to participate in the program. Each of the county’s 10 towns will get to designate one member.

Stark said the committee will be balanced with representatives of different waterfront industries.

The volunteer incentive program allows property owners to sell future development rights to the county through a conservation easement. The land in turn remains privately owned but cannot be developed beyond its current use. The value of the easement is determined through an Environmental Trust Review Board. The acquisition process is set by county code and is the same as farmland acquisition.

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Southampton High School will not have a varsity football team this season because it does not have the required number of players to field a team, according to Section XI executive director Tom Combs. Mike Anderson reports in NEWSDAY that Southampton Public School's athletic director Darren Phillips notified Combs yesterday morning.

Schools must have a minimum of 16 players to field a team, according to the NYS Public High School Athletic Association rulebook.

Southampton, which combines with The Ross School in East Hampton, hopes to field a varsity team next season, Combs said. The team went 0-7 last season.

Southampton's enrollment for classification purposes is listed at 359 on the Section XI website. The Ross School's is 87.

The eight games on the Southampton/Ross schedule will be forfeited, as per Section XI rules. The team is a member of Suffolk Division IV.

Combs said Phillips told him the school intends to keep a junior varsity football team, but it will not know if it has enough players to compete until later in the week. Any juniors, sophomores and freshmen who were on Southampton/Ross’ varsity team are eligible to play on its JV team, but the seniors are not.

Combs said the seniors will not be able to play for a nearby school this season because the deadline for combining schools has passed.

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New York State Attorney General Letitia James and the state Department of Transportation have asked a state court judge to hold leaders of the Shinnecock Indian Nation in contempt of court for continuing to operate the tribe’s Sunrise Highway electronic billboards in Hampton Bays, a move the tribe described as "attempted intimidation." Mark Harrington reports in NEWSDAY that in motions filed this spring and summer, James’ office, filing on behalf of the Transportation Department, charged that individual members of the nation’s Council of Trustees and three companies connected to the billboards are continuing to operate them despite a court order in December that affirmed a prior preliminary injunction restricting construction and operation of the signs.

In seeking contempt charges, the State of New York acknowledged that it "cannot seek damages, penalties" or other claims against the tribal leaders, as previously decreed by the court. But it asks the court for fines against the billboard companies, which built and maintain the billboards and arrange for advertising. The state is asking the court for the names and addresses of all entities that have advertised on the billboards, a client list that includes New York State, the tribe has noted in response papers.

Shinnecock vice chairman Lance Gumbs blasted the contempt motion as "attempted intimidation," and reiterated the tribe’s claim that a state easement through its Westwoods territory in Hampton Bays, where the signs are located, was obtained illegally through condemnation in 1959, without any compensation for the perpetual use. The move is the latest in a series of legal manuevers by the state and the Town of Southampton, which has separately filed suit to stop construction of a gas station travel plaza on the same property. The town and the state have even challenged a federal affirmation of Westwoods as restricted, sovereign tribal land, a move rejected by the federal Interior Board of Indian Appeals. Gumbs said the state should be negotiating with the tribe over the state’s use of Westwoods land to complete Sunrise Highway rather than continuing to wage an expensive legal fight.

The state in its papers allege Shinnecock leaders and the companies "have ignored [court] mandates by continuing to operate the billboards on both sides of Sunrise Highway every day since the entry of the Appellate Division order ... As the billboards continue to operate and display advertisements, the evidence therefore demonstrates that the defendants continue to engage in persistent violations of the preliminary injunction."

The Shinnecock nation, in papers seeking to dismiss the state’s action, argued that the federally recognized sovereign nation "cannot and [does] not accept that this court has jurisdiction in this matter," a charge they have made in the town’s efforts to stall the gas station.

In January, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs affirmed that the 84-acre Westwoods parcel in Hampton Bays has been part of the tribe’s aboriginal land for "time immemorial," with "restricted-fee" status that only an act of Congress could alter.

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The Riverhead Town Board yesterday unanimously approved zoning changes that will allow a long-envisioned affordable housing and community center project to move forward on Northville Turnpike. Alek Lewis reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the project, known as Northville Commons, is proposed by the Family Community Life Center — a nonprofit affiliate of the First Baptist Church of Riverhead — and its development partner, Georgica Green Ventures (GGV). Plans call for approximately 80 subsidized rental apartments, five owner-occupied condominiums, a community center, and other uses on a 12.5-acre site adjacent to the church. The zoning amendments, which apply to the Community Benefits Zoning District, are the result of a multi-year collaboration between Riverhead Town officials and the developer. “We are happy and jubilant that the Town Board has passed the zoning so that the Family Community Life Center can take advantage of that zone,” said Rev. Charles Coverdale, pastor of the First Baptist Church and chairman of the nonprofit, after the vote. “We are now moving ahead with our project, at last.” Coverdale and his wife, Shirley Coverdale — the organization’s president — celebrated outside Town Hall on Wednesday alongside other Family Community Life Center board members and GGV President David Gallo. “After 37 years, this is a good day,” Shirley Coverdale said. “We have a real project. It’s not a vision — it’s a project.” Gallo said he hopes to break ground on construction in September 2026. “We’re super excited to move forward,” he added.

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Suffolk lawmakers unanimously approved a pair of bills yesterday to crack down on unlicensed home contractors and predatory board-up businesses in the "fire chasing" industry.

Joe Werkmeister reports in NEWSDAY that both bills, which now await the signature of County Executive Edward P. Romaine, increase penalties by thousands of dollars on the “unscrupulous” members of both business sectors, according to the legislation.

Legis. Dominick Thorne (R-Patchogue) sponsored the bill to rein in board-up companies, also known as fire remediation services or “fire chasers.” Fire officials say they sometimes deploy deceptive practices that prey on homeowners in the aftermath of a fire.

The bill expands a 2015 law to require any member of a board-up service to provide a statement to the consumer that clearly states their purpose. The company must also declare it is not a government service and the homeowner is not required to contract with the business. The consumer must sign the statement and acknowledge reading and understanding it, according to the bill.

The bill received letters of support from the Fire Marshals Association of Suffolk County, the Suffolk County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services Commission and the Islip Fire Chiefs Council.

A separate bill approved aims to help protect consumers from home contractors who have landed on the county’s so-called “Wall of Shame.”

The bill increases fines for contractors found guilty of a violation from $750 to $1,000 for a first offense and from $1,500 to $5,000 for subsequent offenses.

Legis. James Mazzarella (R-Moriches) said the bill he sponsored “takes another step in further protecting our residents here in Suffolk County.”

The bill was approved after Newsday published an examination of the Wall of Shame in June, which currently includes 784 names, finding that while the registry can be a deterrent, repeat offenders often continue to operate even when facing fines and public scrutiny. Homeowners often uncover a contractor's inclusion on the registry only after problems arise.

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As word spread this week that a new charter seaplane service was planning to land in New Suffolk to offer “curated experiences” on the North Fork, in violation of town law, Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski is urging residents who see seaplanes landing in Southold waters to “call the police, who know they should take action immediately….Cutchogue Harbor is such a busy spot, with kids sailing at the yacht club and a lot of boating traffic. To allow that kind of use is dangerous,” states the Southold Town Supervisor.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the seaplane she witnessed belongs to a Florida-based company, Tropic Ocean Airways, which has recently begun a public relations campaign touting a new service connecting New York City and the North Fork, despite the fact that Southold Town Code prohibits seaplanes from landing within the town.

Joe Polashock, who serves as President of the New Suffolk Civic Association, said he saw seaplanes at least three times over the past several months — on what’s been dubbed “Submarine Beach,” the site of the first U.S. Navy submarine base, taking off from Cutchogue Harbor and tied to the end of the mainland bulkhead used by employees of Robins Island.

“That thing is a turboprop…They make a bit of a racket when they’re down close and really working,” Mr. Polashock said yesterday.“

Southold Town beefed up its seaplane prohibitions in October of 2022 in anticipation of these types of services, when the Town Board unanimously agreed to add these lines to the town code: “No person, firm or corporation shall land or cause to be landed, take off or cause to take off, taxi, or emplane or deplane any seaplane on or from Town beaches and waterways, trustee waters and beaches, Town waters, Town docks, and/or floats.”

“Tropic Air is an operator from Florida that has been quite disrespectful to not only the Southold Town Board in this situation and to many residents on the North Fork for a few years now,” said Town Aircraft Noise Steering Committee Chair Teresa McCaskie on Wednesday morning. “Our committee predicted that such an event could happen and, with the support of our Southold Town legal team and the Town Board, carefully crafted language to protect our shorelines from this type of intrusive noise and air polluting industry. The eastern end of Long Island is beautiful and very unique, and our effort as a committee is to try to keep it that way.”

Southold Town also does not permit helicopters to land within its boundaries, with the exception of medical, military and agricultural aircraft.

East Hampton Town also prohibits seaplanes from landing in its waters.