Town: 25 Camp Counselors Were Living in East Hampton Home

Two building owners were charged with a total of 61 violations, including multiple counts of overcrowding and partial occupancy after it was discovered that a local home was being illegally occupied by more than two dozen young adults, East Hampton Town officials said Wednesday.

The East Hampton Town Ordinance Enforcement Department, assisted by the Town Police Department and Fire Marshal’s Office, executed a search warrant Wednesday morning to investigate suspected overcrowding and building code violations at a home located at 17 Ocean Boulevard.

Based on an investigation, including the execution of the warrant, town officials say they determined that the house has been occupied illegally by 25 young adults, all of whom crammed into the house to work as counselors at a local summer camp.

Most of the house had been altered without the required building permits or inspections, making for a dangerous living situation, officials said.

The house had eight bedrooms, twice the number it was legally permitted to have.

Several bedrooms lacked the required emergency escape windows, and some rooms had air conditioners installed in a manner that would prevent occupants from escaping in the event of a fire, officials said. All the bedrooms contained bunk beds.

In addition, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors were missing; the swimming pool was improperly secured and filled with green, unsanitary water; and nine cars were parked in the driveway and on the lawn, town officials said.

Town Code allows four vehicles, unless the house is owner occupied.

Two of the camp counselors arrived during the inspection and acknowledged they were in charge of the premises and the employees living in the house, officials said.

Inspectors issued appearance tickets to Doris E. Rosen, 60, of Jericho, and David S. Skolnik, 32, of Plainview, charging them with the following:

• seven counts of overcrowding
• four counts of partial occupancy
• three counts of no smoke alarm
• six counts change of use or type of occupancy
• nine counts of no building permit
• five counts of no certificate of occupancy
• three counts of no egress (blocked egress window)
• two counts of no egress (railroad bedroom)
• one count of water heater relief valve
• two counts of removal of smoke detector
• two counts of no carbon monoxide detectors observed
• two counts of failure to label electrical panel
• one count of multi-family occupancy
• one count of use single family to dormitory
• one count of property maintenance swimming pool
• five counts of property maintenance—improper gates and enclosure
• one count of property maintenance code no door alarm regarding swimming pool
• one count of property maintenance code—grass over 10 inches
• one count of failure to enclose pool equipment
• one count of excessive vehicles in a rental
• one count of failure to keep clean and sanitary conditions—garbage within residence
• two counts of front and rear decks in disrepair

Inspectors also served appearance tickets to Rosen and Skolnik as representatives of the company that owns the house, HCDC Holdings LLC. of 85 Crescent Beach Road in Glen Cove.

Rosen and Skolnik were directed to appear in Town Justice Court on Aug. 17 to answer the charges.

Town officials have also alerted the Suffolk County Waste Water Management Department, as the sanitary system at the house was not designed to handle eight bedrooms.

“This investigation uncovered a host of unsafe living conditions in our community,” Betsy Bambrick, the director of the Ordinance Enforcement Department said. “I praise my staff for taking the self-initiative to discover potential violations and conduct the thorough follow-up necessary to successfully obtain a search warrant and to ultimately carry out the investigation swiftly and professionally.”

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