Hampton Bays resident sues to block new Southampton sewer district

A Hampton Bays homeowner is suing to stop Southampton Town from purchasing neighboring land where the officials plan to build a sewage treatment plant.

Hampton Bays resident Michael Hillebrand sued in Suffolk State Supreme Court challenging a recent town board vote to acquire 30.8 acres off Old Riverhead Road for $3.2 million. The property is adjacent to town facilities on Jackson Avenue. The town plans to use the site, roughly 300 feet east of Hillebrand's property, for a sewer system to serve Hampton Bays’ downtown business district. Sewers would service new restaurants, cafes and apartments as part of a broader effort to revitalize Hampton Bays.

Hillebrand’s lawsuit argues the town exceeded its authority by using money from the Community Preservation Fund in large part to support new development. State law bans using those funds for projects designed to accommodate growth, rather than preserve open space or improve water quality, the lawsuit states.

“They want to pipe sewage into a particularly delicate area of the pine barrens and create a sewage treatment plant there, from which they will treat sewage from outside the pine barrens,” said Fredrick Stern, Hillebrand’s attorney, in an interview. “It is wholly inappropriate and frankly should be an affront to the people who sacrifice property rights so that the pine barrens can be protected.”

Southampton Town Attorney James Burke said in a statement to Newsday that the acquisition of the property "is an appropriate action and well within the town’s authority.”

Town officials say the purchase is a key step toward building sewer infrastructure to replace aging cesspools and septic systems used by downtown businesses. Adding sewers in Hampton Bays would support economic development, reduce nitrogen pollution and improve groundwater quality, officials said.

“This is about ensuring clean water,” Councilman Michael Iasilli told Newsday. “I know a lot of times it can be controversial with respect to the location that is identified for some of these projects, but nobody in any of these scenarios is ever going to be 100% happy with how we do this.”

Town officials have said the facility would be designed to emit little to no odor.

The lawsuit seeks to annul the board-approved sale and asks the court to declare that the property cannot be used to build a wastewater treatment facility.

The property is within the Central pine barrens, where development is limited, and is designated as a critical resource area. The lawsuit contends the town improperly attempted to change that designation to allow the project to proceed.

Plans call for clearing about 6 acres of woodland to construct a 20,000-square-foot treatment facility, along with four leaching pools to filter treated water into the ground.

Previous attempts to encourage new development in the hamlet have faced legal challenges. A state court in 2021 struck down a zoning overlay district that would have allowed mixed-use buildings in part of the business corridor. A resident had challenged the town’s environmental review process. Town officials later withdrew their appeal and said they would restart the planning process.