Southampton Planning Board Sets Hearing Dates, Approves Revegetation and Subdivision Reports

Planning Board · Meeting of July 23, 2026

Southampton Planning Board advances Penny Candy gallery concept while tightening subdivision septic rules. Vice Chair Finnerty presided Thursday over a wide-ranging session that opened with a work session on attorney Michael Slensky's proposal to convert the beloved former Penny Candy store at 860 Montauk Highway in Watermill into an art gallery with a second-floor apartment, a project constrained by a 36-foot-wide, 5,000-square-foot lot that can accommodate only three rear parking spaces at roughly $2,000 per purchased additional space. The board adopted a pre-application report on the Howley at Anderson Avenue subdivision in Hampton Bays, 6-0 with one absent, stating it "has serious concerns given the substantial relief required" to create lots of roughly 15,000 and 11,000 square feet in a zone requiring 20,000, and directing that any ZBA relief must include an upgrade of the existing house to an innovative alternative septic system.

The board also deemed complete two other subdivision applications, set public hearing dates of September 10 and September 24, approved revegetation plans for two Aquifer Protection Overlay District properties, and extended a 2013 site plan approval for the Southampton Fire District's proposed 18,685-square-foot firehouse through July 23, 2028.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,416 words

Source: the Planning Board meeting of July 23, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.