Town Of Southampton: Town Of Southampton Public Safety On Track For Another Banner Year

Press release from the Town of Southampton:

September 30, 2021

For Immediate ReleaseJay SchneidermanSupervisor

Ryan MurphyTown Code Compliance & Emergency Management AdministratorPress ReleaseContact: Ryan Murphy 631.702.1700

Town of Southampton, NY September 30, 2021 —The Town of Southampton Department of Public Safety’s Code Enforcement Division issues rental permits and handles Town Code and quality of life issues throughout the Town of Southampton and some of the incorporated villages. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Code Enforcement not only continued to conduct business as usual, but also saw a tremendous increase in activity.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic Southampton Town Code Enforcement issued 1,393 rental permits for the year 2019. From January 2019 to September 2019 Code Enforcement also responded to 1,316 complaints or calls for assistance that came in via the Town’s Southampton Online Solutions (SOS) system.

“During the pandemic complaints and calls for assistance did not slow down and rental applications increased tremendously,” said Code Compliance and Emergency Management Administrator Ryan Murphy. In the same period (January-September 2020) Code Enforcement responded to 1,394 complaints or calls for assistance. 2020 also saw a 40% increase in rental permit applications going from 1,393 rental permit applications received in 2019 to 1,959 applications being submitted in 2020.

“Southampton Town saw a tremendous increase in both long-term, permanent housing demands, as well as demands for seasonal rental properties during the pandemic as people fled from the City and other locations to less crowded areas like Southampton,” said Supervisor Jay Schneiderman. “Desires to be socially distant, coupled with increased capabilities for remote work and remote education, along with access to some of the most wonderful parks and beaches in the world brought many new residents to the Town.”

“Code Enforcement is on track for another banner year in 2021 as well,” said Councilman Rick Martel. More than 1,492 rental permit applications have already been received and 1,397 SOS complaints or calls for assistance have been received. The Councilman went on to say that, “based on the statistics it would seem that many of our residents and visitors that came out to try and escape COVID-19 realized that the Town of Southampton is a wonderful place year round and have decided to stay.”

This press release was produced by the Town of Southampton. The views expressed here are the author’s own.