A cannabis licensee has sued the Town of Southampton over a recent rezoning, arguing the move prevented its dispensary from opening in a former bank building in Hampton Bays, court filings show. That property is on the north side of 27A just east of the Hampton Bays Carvel. Alek Lewis reports in NEWSDAY that the town board in July rezoned a stretch of East Montauk Highway, where a developer sought to add a new pot shop. Cannabis sales were allowed in that area until the board approved the rezoning, which bans cannabis sales on that stretch of the highway.

Mottz Only Authentic New York Style and its majority owner, Sean Lustberg, said the Town of Southampton “targeted” the rezoning to block the opening of their cannabis dispensary. Lawyers for the licensee said that for months, town officials had “stalled” approvals for the dispensary before approving the zone change.

The lawsuit seeks to overturn the rezoning as well as monetary damages, citing the potential for significant financial losses.

Southampton Town adopted zoning laws in 2023, limiting the siting of non-medical cannabis dispensaries to two of its eight commercial business districts.

The town, according to the lawsuit, relied on an outdated plan and environmental impact study to justify the rezoning.

Southampton Town Attorney James Burke said the lawsuit was “not unexpected.” He noted Mottz had filed a separate lawsuit in September challenging the town’s cannabis zoning law.

“We are confident that the court will recognize that the town board in voting for the zoning amendments acted well within their legislative authority and such action was based on an extensive planning study concerning the Hampton Bays Montauk Highway corridor,” Burke said.

The lawsuit seeks financial damages and projects $18 million annually in losses — including lost revenue, rent payments and other expenses.

Southampton Town has faced a series of legal challenges to its zoning rules from cannabis companies. Last month, the New York State Office of Cannabis Management ruled that Southampton’s cannabis zoning, as well as Riverhead's, were "forbidden" under state law.

The agency had issued advisory opinions calling the towns' limits "unreasonably impractical."

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Even though Southampton Town is poised to turn down $2.93 million in state grant money, Highway Superintendent Charles McArdle told the Noyac Civic Council last week that a proposal to install sidewalks and crosswalks along Noyac Road in the hamlet would proceed as planned and be completed sooner than expected. McArdle, accompanied by Nick Jimenez, the town’s capital projects manager, and Deputy Highway Superintendent Marc Braeger, said Southampton Town’s Highway and Engineering departments had reviewed the state requirements, and “we came up with the theory that we would turn down the grant and do the work ourselves.” The Town Board seems on board with the proposal. Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that among other things, McArdle said the state would require 5-foot-wide sidewalks, curbs and drainage that would jack up the price. In addition, the town would have to condemn small amounts of land from 10 property owners under the state plan, which would add to the cost and delay the project. That number has been reduced to four or five people. Along with sidewalks, the project calls for the crosswalks at Trout Pond, Il Cappelletti, Noyack Delicatessen, Cromer’s Market and Long Beach Road. While most of the sidewalks will be on the south side of Noyac Road, they will run along the north side in areas with more right-of-way. Members of the Noyac Civic Council were generally enthusiastic about the update, although some questioned how it would be possible to do the project for so much less than the state budget. The state grant would require the town to contribute about $1.6 million to the project, whereas if the town does the project itself, it would only cost a total of $1.7 million. “You are getting what you want, you are getting it faster and you are getting it controlled by your people, not the state or other entities,” McArdle said. He added that under the town’s purview, the project could meet the community’s desire to maintain a “rural” feeling along the road, while the state’s requirements could wind up making the road look more suburban.

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Stony Brook Southampton Hospital’s Center for Parkinson’s Disease and Stony Brook University’s School of Health Professions will host an evening with Dr. Ray Dorsey, author of “The Parkinson’s Plan,” on Wednesday, December 3. Admission is free but registration for the limited seating is required. The lecture will be held at Duke Lecture Hall, Stony Brook Southampton Campus, 39 Tuckahoe Road in Southampton. Dr. Dorsey is an internationally renowned neurologist and leading Parkinson’s researcher. His book lays out the environmental drivers of Parkinson’s disease, the policy changes needed to shape the future of brain health, and why prevention must be part of the conversation. Register at bit.ly/ParkinsonsPlan.

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A North Fork real estate investor plans to list a recently approved 88-acre subdivision for $23 million to attract potential buyers of eight large residential lots and 60 acres of farmland that must be preserved. Jonathan LaMantia reports in NEWSDAY that real estate broker Judi Desiderio owns the property in Cutchogue, which runs from Oregon Road to Long Island Sound, through Oregon Close LLC. She told Newsday she plans to list the land in the coming weeks to solicit offers before deciding whether she will sell or develop the homes herself following a 7½-year approval process. The subdivision includes eight residential lots — three 5-acre waterfront parcels, four 2½-acre lots that will have deeded water access and a 2-acre lot with a barn. The remaining area will remain as farmland. DeLea Sod Farm leases the eastern half of the property, and Sagaponack-based Wolffer Estate Vineyard leases vines on the western portion of the site. Desiderio said a buyer could create a horse farm or a vineyard on the farmland among other agricultural uses. The future development follows a decade of significant home price appreciation on the North Fork. The median price among all North Fork home sales rose above $1 million for the first time earlier this year. The typical home price has doubled since 2015 when the median was $510,000, according to data from brokerage Douglas Elliman and appraisal firm Miller Samuel. Desiderio said, "The trajectory on the North Fork is one where the consumer wants larger lots. They want a higher-quality home where they can vacation," Desiderio said. "People are spending more money on the North Fork than ever." Last month, a 7,500-square-foot bayfront mansion in Cutchogue garnered the highest sale price ever for a single-lot property, at $11.2 million.

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A federal judge has dismissed a move by the Trump administration to overturn New York State law blocking efforts by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to arrest or detain "any alien" appearing or attempting to appear for hearings at state courthouses.

The judge rejected claims that restrictions in place under the state’s Protect Our Courts Act create unconstitutional roadblocks to immigration enforcement.

John Valenti and Carl MacGowan report in NEWSDAY that Monday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino was heralded by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who, in a statement, said: "Everyone deserves to seek justice without fear. This ruling ensures that anyone can use New York’s state courts without being targeted by federal authorities."

The battle behind the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Division against the state, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, is rooted in actions going back almost a decade, among them a ruling secured by James in 2020 barring the first Trump administration from conducting civil immigration arrests "in and around" state courthouses.

It was not immediately clear yesterday how often such enforcement — or, attempted enforcement — has taken place. But the decision notes that before 2017, ICE "generally prohibited its officials from engaging in civil enforcement action at courthouses" — except in "very limited circumstances" — and claims, as a result of Trump's change in policy, civil immigration arrests at state courthouses in New York increased "some 1,200%" over a three-year period ending in 2020.

The federal judge's decision is a "big victory" for immigrants and their advocates, who have had to contend with fears that ICE agents may be lurking outside state and county courthouses, said Jessica Greenberg, legal director for the Central American Refugee Center in Hempstead.

Though the state law applies only to nonfederal courts, the Central Islip court complex includes both Suffolk County and federal courthouses, making the state law difficult to enforce, said one advocate who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

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The Hampton Bays Civic Association will meet this coming Monday, November 24, at the Hampton Bays Community Center on Ponquogue Avenue. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. and the meeting will start at 7 p.m. The guest speakers will be Stephanie McEvoy, director of the Hampton Bays Library; Barbara Skelley, a Hampton Bays Library trustee; and Southampton Town Councilmember Rick Martel. McEvoy and Skelley will talk about the library, its mission and programs. Martel will provide an update on town government as it pertains to Hampton Bays. The meeting is open to the public. For more information, go to hbcivic.org. The Hampton Bays Civic Association is a 501(c)(4) civic organization run by volunteers.

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A Massapequa company is under state investigation for allegedly operating an unlicensed home health care business. The NYS Department of Health accuses Friends For Life Homecare of providing services beyond stated non-medical companionship, which industry and labor advocates say potentially poses safety risks due to lack of oversight. Friends For Life said in a court filing that it doesn't require a state license because it is not a home health care agency.

Aides tell NEWSDAY that they’re asked to work around the clock with clients who are sometimes agitated, they say, hoisting them to and from bed, changing colostomy bags and checking wounds — work requiring strict state oversight and approval that Friends For Life doesn’t have.

Josefa Velásquez reports in NEWSDAY that the disconnect between the services the company describes and what a Newsday investigation found it offers clients is at the center of a review by the NYS Department of Health, which alleges the 15-year-old company is operating an unlicensed home health care agency. This scrutiny of a firm boasting a large reach across Long Island underscores the challenges of regulating a burgeoning home health care industry, and, according to industry and labor advocates, potentially creates a safety risk since the state has no oversight to ensure aides are adequately trained.

New York's home health licensing process requires a $2,000 application fee, a certificate of need and a roughly two-year approval process that ensures a company has enough capital, the owners pass a character and competency review and that health care protocols are up to standard to ensure patient safety.

Despite the stringent state requirements, the home health aide sector has boomed in New York in recent years, driven by the aging population and state and federal policies that incentivize people to receive care at home rather than more expensive institutions. Home health and personal care aides accounted for the top job category in New York last year, according to the most recent estimates by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with an estimated 623,000 aides working in home health and personal care as of May 2024, a 40% increase from five years prior. There are nearly 500 licensed home care agencies serving Long Island, according to the health department.

This rapid growth also lends itself to potential for fraud in the industry, according to Bill Hammond, a senior health policy fellow at the Empire Center, a think tank based in Albany.

He said the state’s controls on the home health aide industry are "obviously not adequate to the job.