Plaintiffs Awarded Fees in East Hampton Airport Case

A Suffolk County judge ordered that the Town of East Hampton pay attorneys fees to the plaintiffs who sued to block new East Hampton Airport rules designed to mitigate neighbors’ noise complaints.

The decision comes after Suffolk Judge Paul Baisley ruled against plaintiffs’ who urged the court to prohibit the town from using fees collected from the airport to pay legal fees in the case.

“The court’s order awarding attorney’s fees to the petitioners resulting from the second contempt finding against the town in as many years is yet another stark reminder that the town board is not above the law and must, like all litigants, obey the orders of the court,” attorney James Catterson, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, which represents some of the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

Baisley has previously found the town in contempt of court in a separate case concerning Truck Beach, a disputed stretch of oceanfront in Napeague that has pitted homeowners against commercial fishermen. In the airport case, the town has been trying to restrict the types of aircraft flying in and out of its airport in Wainscott to ease complaints about loud planes and helicopters.

In a previous ruling on August 3, the court affirmed that the town is allowed to use airport fee revenue rather than other taxpayer dollars to defend itself in the airport litigation.

In the ruling, Baisley cited the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision that “a sponsor may use airport revenue to pay attorney fees to the extent that fees are for service in support of the airport or operating costs.”

The town is appealing Baisley’s ruling that found the town in contempt as well as the judge’s injunction preventing the town from deactivating or closing the airport. That appeal is pending before the Appellate Division.

Both sides were due back in Baisley’s court to review the fees on August 31.