Montauk Landmark to Become Members Only

Lawyers representing the new owners of The East Deck Motel, at Ditch Plains in Montauk, have submitted plans to the East Hampton Town Planning Board proposing to convert the motel into a private club it has been reported in The East Hampton Star and The New York Times.

The motel was purchased last November by ED40, a limited liability corporation registered in Delaware, which is one of the few states in the country that allows the identities of the partners to remain anonymous. Thus far, the partnership behind the $15 million purchase have remained a mystery save for two local businessmen, Scott Bradley and Lars Svanberg, who have become the public face of the proposed project. Bradley runs Paddle Diva, a surf paddle school in East Hampton. Svanberg owns Main Beach, a surf shop in Wainscott.

Adding to the enigma surrounding the proposed conversion of the egalitarian surfer hang-out East Deck into a members-only establishment is a stipulation in the Montauk town code that requires “private clubs be not-for-profit” according to the article in The East Hampton Star.

Biondo and Hammer, the Montauk attorneys representing ED40, have come up with an inventive solution to clear that legal hurdle: They’ve proposed a dual ownership entity with the majority partner being a New York State not-for-profit responsible for the day-to-day management of the club to be affiliated with the existing ED40 partnership, which would retain ownership of the site.

The filing with the planning board includes further details about the club, which is to be designed by the British architect Dave Adjaye and have no more than 179 members. The proposal calls for the construction of 36 underground parking spaces along with a 12,242 square foot clubhouse and more than 5,000 square feet of decking.

Concerned neighbors of the East Deck Motel have formed The Ditch Plains Association to address concerns over the proposed development as well as beach erosion, illegal parking and general quality of life issues.