Hamptons locals sue Stella McCartney for refusing to remove barrier

EXCLUSIVE: Stella McCartney is sued by Hamptons locals for refusing to remove 230ft long barrier protecting her $2.5million waterfront vacation home that blocks public path to the beach

Stella McCartney refuses to dismantle a 230ft long barrier that has blocked a public access pathway to the Hamptons beach beside her house for five years
Furious locals are now suing to have the sandbags blocking the beach access point removed
‘My message to Stella McCartney is, you’ve been asked to do the right thing and you haven’t done the right thing,’ local Joe Karpinski told DailyMail.com

Fashion guru Stella McCartney is being taken to court over her beachside home in New York celebrity hotspot The Hamptons, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

The designer daughter of Beatle Paul has enraged locals in the uber-fashionable hamlet of Amagansett by refusing to dismantle a 30ft wide barrier with a 7ft drop that has blocked a public access pathway to the beach beside the house for five years.

It is part of a structure of giant sandbags stretching 230ft in front of the $2.5million pad she bought in 2016 with husband Alasdhair Willis and designed to battle coastal erosion. The wall also wraps around a neighbor’s threatened waterfront home.

But instead of having two separate structures in front of their respective properties, 52-year-old McCartney and the neighbor ran them together across the formerly sloping public access, building it up and blocking off the only way on to that stretch of beach enjoyed by local families for decades.

Stella McCartney refuses to dismantle a 30ft wide barrier that has blocked a public access pathway to the Hamptons beach beside her house for five years. Dad Paul, 81, has had a home in The Hamptons since the 1990s and still spends summers there

Furious locals are now suing to have the sandbags over the access removed. The giant structure of sandbags stretches 230ft in front of the $2.5million pad she bought in 2016

McCartney put up the sandbag wall with the neighbor after erosion claimed 40ft of shoreline in a year and they feared their home could be swallowed by the ocean

The stretch of beach in front of McCartney’s home is seen before she and her husband put sandbags in front of it, blocking the access point

Now – after years of anger and controversy – members of East Hampton Town Board have voted to authorize their attorney Robert Connelly to start proceedings in Suffolk County Supreme Court against the ‘appropriate parties’ to have the sandbags over the access removed.

DailyMail.com can also reveal that McCartney and Willis, who stepped down as creative director of global boot brand Hunter in July, have applied to build a lavish new home on the site farther back from the water.

The designer and husband Alasdhair Willis bought the vacation home in 2016

According to plans exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, that would ironically mean demolishing the existing three bedroom house, which the couple bought for $1.7million.

Their single-story 1,350 sq ft pad built in 1972 sits at the far end of a narrow private road containing only 12 houses, and with long-time families still among more recent and affluent arrivals who are busily building magnificent homes that dwarf existing places.

Furious resident Joe Karpinski is the third-generation of his family to live on the same spot there since the 1960s and has campaigned endlessly to win back safe beach access.

He was cautiously optimistic about the court action, but pointed out: ‘Up until the age of 34, I could use my road freely and access that beach without any obstructions. Since the age of turning 35 and now I’m 40 we haven’t been able to use that beach at all.

‘My children, five-year-old twins, have never used that beach because it’s just not safe to navigate that obstacle. It’s too far to drop.

‘The homeowners have been told to remove the obstruction in the past. They were told officially back in 2019 to remove them from the 30ft right of way. They didn’t do it.

‘My message to Stella McCartney is, you’ve been asked to do the right thing and you haven’t done the right thing, Karpinski added.

‘We have always been kind and caring to each and all of our neighbors. Everyone has been neighborly on this road down the years and done what’s right. I’m saying, do the right thing now.

‘This isn’t your primary residence. You do not own the 30ft wide right of way. It is not your property, it is everybody’s property.’

Furious resident Joe Karpinski is the third-generation of his family to live on the same spot there since the 1960s and has campaigned endlessly to win back safe beach access

‘My message to Stella McCartney is, you’ve been asked to do the right thing and you haven’t done the right thing,’ Karpinski said

Karpinski, who works in the forestry industry, said he used to stroll half a mile to the beach, which faces a sheltered bay. ‘Right now the only safe way to get there is to walk to Napeague State Park and go through trails and double back, which is around two miles. Why should we have to do that?

‘I’ve never even seen Stella McCartney or her husband here. The place has been put on the rental market before but it appears empty at this minute.

‘If the court action doesn’t succeed I will never give up fighting for this access we are all being denied. It’s been there for generations. But not for the past five years.’

Four of the five town board members voted for the court action with the other abstaining at their meeting on September 19. The road is private to those who live on it, but Karpinski said the beach access was available to the public.

The town of East Hampton is suing McCartney over the barrier

The resolution stated: ‘Town Board hereby authorizes the Office of the Town Attorney to initiate a declaratory judgment action in Supreme Court Suffolk County against the appropriate parties regarding the installation and maintenance of a geocube revetment across the private road more commonly referred to as Bay View Avenue, Hamlet of Amagansett, Town of East Hampton.’

John Jilnicki, East Hampton’s senior assistant town attorney, told DailyMail.com the authority had not yet filed paperwork to the court.

He said permits for anti-erosion systems are good only for a maximum of six months with a three-month renewal.

‘Maintaining these temporary structures in place for extended periods of time can possibly impact other properties in the area as well as create other adverse environmental consequences,’ said Jilnicki.

‘The geotextile improvements behind both the properties at the end of Bay View Avenue and across the road have been in place for well past the six month plus three month time period permitted under the Town Code.’

McCartney and Willis put up the sandbag wall with the neighbor after erosion claimed 40ft of shoreline in a year and they feared their home could be swallowed by the ocean.

Records reviewed by DailyMail.com at New York State Department of Environmental Conservation show that a permit applied for on May 2, 2018 ‘to install geocubes and sandfill to stabilize shore’ at the property has expired.

On June 28 this year an application to ‘reapply to install geocubes, place sand, plant grass’ was submitted. Its status is given as ‘completeness determination due’, meaning officials are still reviewing if the application has sufficient information.

Against that backdrop, the extensive plans obtained by DailyMail.com for the couple’s site reveal they want to build a 1,408 sq ft home with just two bedrooms and a large wraparound deck at the front so they can enjoy the magnificent water views.

Architect drawings show a cross-shaped house with the living area on the second floor also facing the beach and what appears to be a modest integrated kitchen in the open layout. A garage is on ground level, with a Bentley drawn into the plan as an illustration. The color of the roof is noted as green.

The plans clearly state: ‘Existing house to be removed.’

Attorney Jonathan Tarbet, who submitted the application to East Hampton planning authorities, also specified building a ‘rock revetment’ or wall in front of the house.

In support, he warned: ‘The accelerating rate of sea level rise, coastal erosion and intensification of storm surge and hurricanes make it likely that the applicant’s home will eventually end up completely underwater.

Architect drawings show a cross-shaped house with the living area on the second floor also facing the beach and what appears to be a modest integrated kitchen in the open layout

The extensive plans obtained by DailyMail.com for the couple’s site reveal they want to build a 1,408 sq ft home with just two bedrooms and a large wraparound deck at the front so they can enjoy the magnificent water views

Attorney Jonathan Tarbet, who submitted the application to East Hampton planning authorities, also specified building a ‘rock revetment’ or wall in front of the house.

‘We must take immediate and effective measures to reinforce and protect the shoreline. Therefore, the installation of a rock revetment is necessary to ensure the long-term viability of the site and protect the surrounding environment.’

Tarbet refused to comment when DailyMail.com went to his office in the town to discuss the court action and planning paperwork for the new house. The application was made in the name of RooRoo Property LLC, into which the property was transferred on October 4, 2018.

Despite McCartney’s apparent absence from the beachfront house, she does have a long association with the area.

Dad Paul, 81, has had a home in The Hamptons since the 1990s and can be spotted during the summer shopping in Amagansett with wife Nancy, while pal Gwyneth Paltrow, 51, also has a property there.

The court action threat comes amid anger in Scotland, where more than 50 objections have been lodged over plans by the designer and husband Willis to redevelop a remote coastal site in the Highlands.

Some locals in the Lochailort area have denounced plans for the massive glass-fronted modernist mansion on an area of land called Commando Rock – with one calling it a ‘carbuncle’.

And in an echo of her problems in Amagansett, some residents fear the project would intrude on a public right of way – including to a beach.

The proposal, in Willis’s name, is for a split-level home that the architects Brown and Brown say mirrors the landscape around it.

‘It is felt that the form of the building would create an unashamedly contemporary, yet complimentary, addition to the wider area, which possesses buildings of varying architectural style, both traditional and modern in nature,’ says the firm.

The roof would be seeded with grasses and heather from the site.

McCartney’s sandbags are blocking off the only way on to that stretch of beach enjoyed by local families for decades

‘My children, five-year-old twins, have never used that beach because it’s just not safe to navigate that obstacle. It’s too far to drop.

‘The applicant wishes to create a home here which is site-specific, with the setting, existing contours, aspect, and sun-path being among key generators of the design,’ add the architects.

‘Privacy is of prime importance to the applicant, which is the chief reason they acquired the site.

‘The secluded nature of the site would be retained, with the house being largely unseen out with the site, and primarily only visible from the water.’

However, wildlife conservationist Sam Secombe is reported as saying: ‘I believe this new enlarged modern dwelling will spoil the natural beauty of this landscape and become a carbuncle on the bluff, clearly visible by both day and night due to its prominent positioning and large illuminated windows.

And documents lodged with Highland Council show a range of complaints. Celia Woodhouse says it would be ‘disastrous’ if the ‘monstrous house’ is built.

Patrick MacDonald believes the home would be to the ‘detriment’ of the area, saying: ‘The fact that there exists a woodland of mature Scots pine trees and indeed otters on the site should be all the more reason it should be protected.’

Lady Marie-Sophie Law de Lauriston adds: ‘Non-reflective glass would be more appropriate to reduce the visual impact of the building in the evening sun.

‘Access to the beach at the east of the proposed property should be guaranteed, given the constant visitors to the beach.’

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