A headline in THE SOUTHAMPTON PRESS today exclaims, “Pot Shop Says It Will Open Next to School Without Permits From Southampton Town.”

Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the cannabis dispensary licensees who were told by Southampton Town last month that their planned location is not a legal location for a dispensary, because it neighbors the Tuckahoe School…immediately adjacent to the Tuckahoe School playground…plan to open for business next week regardless — without applying for any permits from the Town of Southampton. A roadside sign and new custom awnings — as well as a customized Moke electric car — emblazoned with the branding for Charlie Fox, went up just before Labor Day weekend at the building on the north side of County Road 39 which used to be home to the Hampton Car Club. It’s the name of a boutique dispensary that previously operated in Manhattan’s Times Square and was fined $50,000 by New York State for violating cannabis sales regulations. The company announced through a public relations company last week that it would be opening for business as a state-licensed cannabis dispensary on September 14 — touting itself as the first such dispensary to open in the Hamptons — despite not having been granted, or even formally applied for, any of the approvals required by Southampton Town for a dispensary, or any other commercial enterprise, to open for business. At a discussion last month, Southampton Town planning staff pointed out that the former car club property shares a property line with the Tuckahoe Common School…for students from kindergarten through 8th grade…which violates the town’s guidelines for cannabis dispensaries and appears, town staff pointed out, to violate a recently updated clarification of State OCM requirements that said cannabis dispensaries may not be operated within 500 feet of any school’s property line.

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The 2,400 acres of commercial waterfront property spanning Suffolk County could now be eligible for preservation under a new waterfront protection program. Joe Werkmeister reports in NEWSDAY that the Suffolk County Legislature unanimously approved a bill yesterday to create the program, which mirrors a farmland preservation program enacted in 1974. The goal is to preserve the waterfront access critical for the commercial fisheries, aquaculture, recreational fishing and boating businesses to survive.

The bill’s passage "will begin to turn the tide and preserve and protect the character and history of farming and fishing that Suffolk County is steeped in," said Legis. Ann Welker (D-Southampton), the bill's co-sponsor.

The county funded $2.5 million for the program in 2026 through the capital budget and $9.5 million total over the first three years.

"Our industries are facing development pressure across Suffolk County and we need to protect them," said Legis. Catherine Stark (R-Riverhead), who also co-sponsored the bill.

The next step — once signed into law by County Executive Edward P. Romaine, who supports the program — is to create a 17-member committee that will review applications submitted by landowners seeking to participate in the program. Each of the county’s 10 towns will get to designate one member.

Stark said the committee will be balanced with representatives of different waterfront industries.

The volunteer incentive program allows property owners to sell future development rights to the county through a conservation easement. The land in turn remains privately owned but cannot be developed beyond its current use. The value of the easement is determined through an Environmental Trust Review Board. The acquisition process is set by county code and is the same as farmland acquisition.

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Southampton High School will not have a varsity football team this season because it does not have the required number of players to field a team, according to Section XI...