Incorporation—Don’t Fall for It

Wainscott United is a group of residents from different parts of our hamlet who are deeply concerned about the proposal to incorporate Wainscott made by a small group of Beach Lane property owners opposed to the wind farm underground electric cable. 

The East Hampton Star got it right: “Wainscott Village [is a] Terrible Idea.”

  • Residents of an incorporated Wainscott will have to pay higher taxes to cover the expenses (sorely underestimated by the proponents) of an unnecessary layer of government.
  • Incorporating Wainscott divides our hamlet by arbitrarily cutting out certain homeowners and commercial industrial properties. 
  • A new village won’t have the substantial resources and expertise of East Hampton Town, which now handles Wainscott’s many complex planning issues, including the development of the 70-acre commercial industrial zoned sand pit, implementation of the Wainscott Hamlet Study, and future control over airport noise and traffic.
  • An incorporated Wainscott can relax the land-use laws and open space protection that have preserved Wainscott’s charm.
  • Proponents claim that members of Wainscott’s boards (mayor, trustees, planning and zoning) will be unpaid. This is highly dubious, but if true, let’s remember, “you get what you pay for.”

Many villages formed in New York State have learned a hard and expensive lesson that running a village is not as simple as it seems. The only NY village created in the last 10 years dissolved itself six years later, and during that same period, 21 other NY villages also dissolved.

Let’s not make the same mistake.

To be added to our email list, and for more information, please visit wainscottunited.org/subscribe