To be considered for inclusion in the Nature Preserve, a site must meet at least one of the following criteria:
A. 
It serves as habitat for endangered, threatened, special concern or rare species as listed in New York State Environmental Conservation Law § 11-0535 or the New York State Natural Heritage Program.
B. 
It contains habitat or significant concentrations or populations of breeding, feeding or resting wildlife.
C. 
It contains freshwater or saltwater wetlands or ponds.
D. 
It contains outstanding examples of natural communities as identified by the New York Natural Heritage Program or the East Hampton Natural Resources or Planning Department.
E. 
It contains geological features which are vulnerable to human disturbance, such as cliffs, bluffs, deep slopes, beaches or dunes, or which are prime examples of interesting geological processes, events or periods such as kettleholes, kames, eskers or outwash stream channels.
F. 
It is particularly suited to and appropriate for environmental education programs or academic research programs.
G. 
It provides an essential buffer to lands in the Nature Preserve or to other Town, county, state or federal park land or open space.
H. 
It protects watershed areas critical to recharging precipitation into the Town's sole-source aquifer or maintaining surface water quality.
A. 
Nomination. A nomination regarding Town-owned property for dedication to the Nature Preserve must be submitted to the Town Board in triplicate on the form prescribed by the Town Board. A nomination for dedication may be made by Town agencies, community organizations and interested individuals.
B. 
Evaluation.
(1) 
Every written nomination submitted to the Town Board shall be referred to the Department for an evaluation.
(2) 
The Department shall utilize the criteria contained in § 182-10 in making a written evaluation on whether the nominated property should be considered for inclusion in the Nature Preserve. Said written evaluation shall be forwarded to the Town Board within 45 days of receipt of the nomination from the Town Board.
C. 
Referral to Town Board. The Town Board shall review the written evaluation it receives pursuant to Subsection B above. If the Department's evaluation recommends against dedication to the Nature Preserve, no public hearing need be held. If the evaluation recommends dedication to the Nature Preserve, said nomination is subject to public hearing.
D. 
Hearing. The Town Board shall schedule a public hearing within 45 days of receipt of a positive referral for dedication from the Department. Said hearing shall be held not less than three nor more than 30 days after public notice has been given of the time and place of holding such public hearing. Such notice shall be given by the Town Clerk, causing the same to be published once in the official newspaper of the Town.
E. 
Dedication. Following the public hearing, the Town Board, by resolution, may dedicate all, part or none of the Town-owned property discussed at the public hearing to the Nature Preserve.
F. 
Trustee lands. Dedication pursuant to this chapter shall have no effect on wetlands, beaches, highways, underwater lands or other property in the ownership of the Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonality of the Town of East Hampton.
[Added 9-18-1992 by L.L. No. 31-1992]
A. 
In order to preserve and protect environmentally sensitive Town-owned property, the Town Board shall establish a Nature Preserve Committee and appoint annually the Committee members. The Committee shall be composed of a minimum of 10 East Hampton Town residents and additionally one Town Board member and one Town Trustee. The Town Director of Planning or his/her designee and the Town Director of Natural Resources or his/her designee shall serve as ex officio advisors to the committee on an as-needed basis.
[Amended 3-3-2000 by L.L. No. 1-2000]
B. 
The Nature Preserve Committee shall be responsible for performing the following tasks:
(1) 
Inventorying existing Town-owned property to assess possible inclusion of said property in the Nature Preserve.
(2) 
Maintaining a register listing of the property that has been dedicated to the Nature Preserve.
(3) 
Preparing or causing to be prepared management plans for properties dedicated to the Nature Preserve to ensure that said properties' unique features are preserved and protected.
(4) 
Advising the Town Board of enforcement and management problems.
[Added 3-3-2000 by L.L. No. 1-2000]
A. 
The properties dedicated to the Town Nature Preserve are hereby declared to be held in trust for the benefit of the people of the Town of present and future generations and declared to be put to their best and most important use for the public benefit.
B. 
Property owned by the Town and dedicated under this chapter to the Nature Preserve shall not be cleared or improved in any manner, except to provide opportunities that facilitate the purposes set forth in the management plan and/or enhance educational or wilderness experiences, without each of the following procedures having first taken place:
(1) 
The Town Board shall hold a public hearing to allow public comment on the proposed land clearing on or improvement to certain property dedicated to the Nature Preserve. Said hearing shall be held not less than 14 nor more than 30 days after public notice has been given of the time and place of holding such public hearing. Such notice shall be given by the Town Clerk, causing the same to be published once in the official newspaper of the Town.
(2) 
Following the hearing, the Town Board shall, by a majority-plus-one vote, pass a resolution that makes a finding of an imperative and unavoidable public necessity requiring said land clearing on or improvement to certain property dedicated to the Nature Preserve.
C. 
Utility easements may be granted by the Town Board on the perimeter of property dedicated to the Nature Preserve by a majority-plus-one vote.
A. 
The properties dedicated to the Nature Preserve are hereby declared to be held in trust for the benefit of the people of the Town of present and future generations and declared to be put to their best and most important use for the public benefit.
B. 
Property owned by the Town and dedicated under this chapter to the Nature Preserve shall not be conveyed, leased, exchanged or otherwise disposed of without each of the following procedures having first taken place:
(1) 
The Town Board shall hold a public hearing to allow public comment on the proposed conveyance, lease, exchange or other disposal of certain property dedicated to the Nature Preserve. Said hearing shall be held not less than 14 nor more than 30 days after public notice has been given of the time and place of holding such public hearing. Such notice shall be given by the Town, causing the same to be published at least once in the official newspaper of the Town.
(2) 
Following the hearing, the Town Board shall, by a majority-plus-one vote, pass a resolution that makes a finding of an imperative and unavoidable public necessity requiring conveyance, lease, exchange or other disposal of certain property dedicated to the Nature Preserve.
(3) 
The Town Board resolution which supports the conveyance, lease, exchange or other disposal of certain property dedicated to the Nature Preserve shall be subject to mandatory referendum.
(4) 
All other local, state and federal laws regarding divestiture of property shall be complied with.
[Added 1-16-2003 by L.L. No. 1-2003]
A. 
Any management plan prepared by the Nature Preserve Committee pursuant to § 182-12B(3) of this chapter must be formally adopted for a property or properties in question as follows:
(1) 
The proposed management plan shall be discussed at a regular meeting of the Nature Preserve Committee and must be approved by a simple majority of the Nature Preserve Committee members then in attendance; and
(2) 
The Committee shalt thereafter, in writing, recommend the adoption of the management plan to the Town Board; and
(3) 
The Town Board shall, within 60 days of receiving a management plan recommendation or amendment thereto from the Nature Preserve Committee, schedule a public hearing on a proposed management plan (which may incorporate changes to the proposed management plan made by the Town Board) for the property so implicated upon at least seven days' notice.
B. 
After holding a public hearing as set forth above, the Town Board may adopt the proposed management plan, or any part or amendment thereto, by simple resolution.
C. 
A management plan, amendment or part thereof that has been adopted pursuant to this section shall be filed with and maintained by the East Hampton Town Planning Department.
[Added 1-16-2003 by L.L. No. 1-2003]
A. 
The following activities shall be prohibited in all duly dedicated Nature Preserves subject to the penalties set forth herein:
(1) 
Unauthorized digging and/or artifact recovery;
(2) 
Unauthorized woodcutting or clearing of vegetation;
(3) 
Abandonment of domesticated animals;
(4) 
Littering.
[Amended 2-4-2016 by L.L. No. 4-2016]
(a) 
No person shall throw or deposit litter, as defined herein, upon any duly dedicated Nature Preserve.
(b) 
A lack of eyewitness testimony shall not bar prosecution under the provisions of § 182-16A(4)(a) of this chapter, and it shall be presumptive evidence, rebuttable by competent evidence, that the identity of the person accused of a violation of these provisions may be established if litter found deposited in violation of these provisions contains substantial evidence of that person's identity.
(5) 
Uncontained fires or burning of any kind;
(6) 
Unauthorized vehicular access.
B. 
On any nature preserve for which a formal management plan has not been presented or adopted pursuant to § 182-15 of this chapter, the Town Board may, by resolution, approve the following activities on nature preserve property:
(1) 
Trail establishment or maintenance, provided all the applicable procedures and requirements of this chapter have been satisfied; and
(2) 
Habitat restoration or revegetation activities pursuant to a restoration and/or revegetation plan approved by the Town's Natural Resource Department.
[Added 1-16-2003 by L.L. No. 1-2003]
The Town's Nature Preserves are an important public resource. The establishment, maintenance and cataloging of public access trails are an important component of maximizing the value of this resource to the Town as a whole. To effectuate the goals set forth herein, the following procedures shall govern all trail-related activities on Nature Preserve property.
A. 
Trail establishment.
(1) 
Individuals or organizations that are proposing new trails on Town Nature Preserve properties shall submit a map of the proposed trail together with a narrative describing the location of the trail, its relationship to other established trails on adjacent properties and the proposed use of the trail to the East Hampton Town Natural Resource Department.
(2) 
Within 45 days, the Natural Resource Department shall submit comments, including a recommendation for approval or denial of the proposed access trail to the Town Board.
(3) 
Upon receipt of the Natural Resource Department's comments, the Town Board may approve the proposed trail pursuant to § 182-16 above.
B. 
Database of trail resources.
(1) 
To further the purposes of this chapter, the Town Natural Resources Department shall maintain a database of all duly recognized trails on public and private property. For the purposes of this section, a duly recognized trail shall be a trail that is located on public or private land with the express permission of the landowner. Any trail recognized or recommended in a management plan adopted hereunder shall constitute a duly recognized trail for purposes of this section.
(2) 
The database maintained hereunder shall be updated every five years by the Town's Natural Resource Department, or other such department as may be duly designated to perform the responsibilities of this chapter by the Town Board.
(3) 
The Town Natural Resource Department shall publish an official map of all the East Hampton trails with the first such map to be made available to the public in fiscal year 2004. The official map shall be updated every five years and shall be made available to the public through the Town Clerk's office for a reasonable fee.