East Quogue golf course vote delayed due to application changes review

Southampton Town Planning Board members want more time to look over a controversial plan to build a private 18-hole golf course at a proposed housing development in East Quogue, 27east reported. The board met on Dec. 13, a move that was supposed to open a 62-day window for a hearing necessary to complete a preliminary application for the project, known as The Hills in East Quogue. But Southampton board members said they need to see if there have been changes to the proposal that could change its environmental impact. The board voted 5-to-1 with one abstention to deem incomplete the application from the project’s developer, Discovery Land Corporation, an Arizona-based company controlled by real estate tycoon and George Clooney tequila business partner Mike Meldman. Changes in the application could trigger a supplemental review by a third party, although town officials have said such a measure is not necessary. The Long Island Pine Barrens Society, a Riverhead-based nonprofit, could also try to overturn the board’s decision in court. [27east]