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Town Trustees
Attention: The most up to date information regarding 4x4 driving access and closures, can be found any of the following ways.
@southamptontowntrustees
Southampton Town Trustees
or visit: https://gis.southamptontownny.gov/infocenter/
The Board of Trustees strongly encourages the public to utilize the
e-permitting option on the Trustees’ website
If anyone has any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the Trustees’ Office at (631) 287-5717 or via e-mail at: towntrustees@southamptontownny.gov
Regular Meetings
- 1 p.m.
- First and third Monday of each month
- (unless otherwise noted on 2022 Trustees Meeting Schedule)
- 116 Hampton Road
Southampton, NY 11968
Work Sessions
- 9:30 am
- First and third Wednesday of each month
- (unless otherwise noted on 2022 Trustees Meeting Schedule)
- 116 Hampton Road
Southampton, NY 11968
2020
- 12-18-2020 through 4-30-2021 - Resolution Authorizing Board of Trustees to Impose Temporary Limitations on Harvest Amount including
- 12-3-20 Trustees Toms Pond Tuckahoe New York Will be Closed until December15 2020 for the Taking of Shellfish
- 11-25- 2020 - Tom's Pond Tuckahoe New York Will be Closed until 12-3-2020 for the Taking of Shellfish
- 10-2020 Special Notice: Shellfish Harvesters - Town of Southampton
- 04-2020 Trustees Notice
- 04-2020 NYSDEC 2020 VpCP Summary Diggers
- 04-2020 NYSDEC 2020 VpCP Summary Shippers
- 04-2020 NYSDEC 2020 VpCP Guide Harvesters Dealers
- 04-2020 NYSDEC 2020 VpCP
2019
- Trustees 2019-TRUS-416 - Regulations for Dredging of Bay Scallops for 2019-2020
- Emergency Marine Biotoxin Closure - Town of Riverhead (Flanders)
- Notice Shellfish Harvesters
- 2019 Vibrio Control Plan Summary - Diggers
- 2019 Vibrio Control Plan Summary - Shellfish Dealers
- 2019 Trustee Meeting Dates
- 2022 Fish Stocking Statistics Report
2018
Established in 1686, the Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the Town of Southampton is the oldest continually elected board in North America. Their continuing charge is the stewardship of more than 25,000 acres of undivided, colonial-era lands consisting mostly of Southampton’s shores, water ways, marshes, and bottomlands.
The Trustees’ responsibilities in doing so includes:
- Preserving public access to the water;
- Upholding the traditions of a maritime community;
- Advising the Town Board on coastal related issues;
- Informing the public of the Facts of Coastal Issues and Policy;
- Representing the best interest of the freeholders;
- Maintaining and protecting surface water quality;
- Regulating dock and bulkhead construction;
- Promoting sustainable harvest of commercial shellfish and finfish;
- Providing a safe marine environment;
- Inspecting all structures built on bay bottom.
The Dongan Patent
The Dongan Patent established the Board of Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the Town of Southampton in 1686. The patent, a document which granted the Freeholders and Commonalty of the Town of Southampton access and rights to common underwater land, rights of way to the water, marshland, and common areas, also created the Board of Trustees to act as stewards for these title lands.
His Majesty King James II of England through his General Governor, Thomas Dongan, granted over 25,000 acres of land, instituting the first official government in the Town of Southampton. Local, state, and even the Supreme Court of the United States have repeatedly ruled that the Dongan Patent is as valid today as it was in 1686. The Dongan Patent guarantees every town freeholder's right to access and use this land and its resources. But with these rights comes responsibilities.