'Burning Kouch' Beach Camping Event Canceled In Orient

ORIENT, NY — The flames have been extinguished for a "Burning Kouch" event planned for this weekend in Orient; the event was canceled after the Southold Town board commenced action to secure a temporary restraining order for the happening.

"The use is not consistent with the easement, which restricts uses to agricultural activities only," Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said. "It was canceled."

An announcement by organizer Drew Wolin wrote on Couchsurfer.com's event site read, "I deeply regret to inform everyone that Burning Kouch 2017 is canceled."

Reading a description of the event online, Councilman Bob Ghosio said the plan involved 200 or more individuals camping out on the property, barbecues, the use of two beaches, multiple live musicians and DJs, dancing and 'great company.'"

At Tuesday night's town board meeting, Tom Foster of Orient asked what the town board, Southold Town Police, or code enforcement might be able to do to "control or eliminate this event."

Russell said the gathering was not a permitted event and the town board was "willing to pursue any and all legal means necessary to make them understand that, in our view, this is simply not allowed."

At Tuesday's town board meeting, the board voted unanimously to hire Devitt Spellman Barrett LLP as special counsel in an action against the owners of the property, located at 26160 Route 25 in Orient.

Town Attorney Bill Duffy said the aim was to secure a temporary restraining order by Thursday.

Foster asked how the TRO would be enforced.

"We're not going to go to court and spend money on outside counsel if we don't intend on enforcing this," Russell said. "We plan on enforcing this with any and all means, whether it be the police department, code enforcement, or whether it involves fire marshals."

Although guests were supposed to email the host for the exact address, the event has been held previous years at Ezair Farm, Foster said.

Owners of the farm could not immediately be reached for comment.

Russell said the host could apply for a special event permit and the town could consider the request, but the town had received no such request; further, Russell said, he believes the gathering would fall out of the parameters of Southold's special event legislation.

Duffy pointed out that part of the land is preserved and using the site for the event would violate easements on the property.

Foster said it wasn't the first time the event had sparked concerns, dating back to 2011. Russell said in the years since 2011, he hasn't heard any complaints from residents. "No one has brought this to my attention, and usually, that community is very efficient at getting ahold of me when things go awry," the supervisor said.

Foster said last year, police were called with complaints.

Event organizers explained the cancellation on their site: "The town of Southold — of which Orient is a hamlet— filed a restraining order against us. They do not want us holding this event there. We tried to fight it. We really did. The hurdles are significant," Wolin wrote.

He added, "Do not publicly speak ill of, or harrass, the town. It won't help matters. Take a moment to digest. Now, there are still hundreds of us, now free, looking to have fun this weekend. So . . .let's have fun this weekend."

Wolin went on to look for suggestions for alternate sites to host the three-day event. "Thank you all for understanding, I'm so sorry it had to come down to this, and let's work together to minimize the impact of the cancellation."

In 2015, an announcement for the event said "coincidentally, it is in the place where the concept of The Way to Gaia was born! So please join me and 100s of other like minded individuals, in a 2 nights camping event by beautiful Orient Point, NY. This is a CouchSurfing event, hosted by a fellow couchsurfer . . . The farm is open for us once a year, to promote the values of shared economy and of CouchSurfing. The idea stems from Burning Man," — a gathering that takes place annually at a temporarily erected city in Nevada.

Video courtesy of YouTube.