Meanwhile, in the Hamptons: Bravo's Summer House Is Facing Some Permitting Problems

By Kelly Faircloth  |  May 31, 2017 | 3:10pm
Latest

The Earth winds its way around the sun and once more summer is upon us and, with it, the return of Bravo’s Summer House to the Hamptons for filming. But this time, the Hamptons are ready for them.

To recap: Summer House is the channel’s offering about a bunch of Bravo types crammed into a summer house in Montauk. Well—in the vicinity of Montauk, anyway. Last year, as the promo campaign began, the president of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce hastened to inform Page Six that, “In fact, the house was located in Amagansett . . . Furthermore, the producers were denied a permit to film on public lands anywhere in East Hampton Town, and that includes the hamlet of Montauk.” He insisted that Montauk is not “a raucous party town,” but rather, “a vacation destination for families, nature lovers and mature adults.”

Well, filming for Season 2 is beginning, and Page Six reports that this year they’ve actually faced some trouble filming in private:

According to a new law, permits are needed even when filming on private property. Newsday reported that an application to shoot at 90 Napeague Harbor Road was turned down for running afoul of zoning codes, and that the amount of filming would classify the production as a commercial shoot.
The application was for the same house featured last season, though producers accidentally wrote the wrong address on a form as 98 Napeague Harbor Road.

Wow—what a convenient law for an area that not infrequently attracts the reality-TV cameras. For the sake of historical context, I must note that this is not the first time the Hamptons have proved resistant to the encroaching sorta-celebrity hordes. In 2014, for instance, there were stickers protesting Kourtney and Khloé Take The Hamptons.

However, the deputy town clerk for the Town of East Hampton did inform Newsday that “the way the committee looks at the application is not based on content, it’s based on whether it violates the existing laws… That’s why they came to the decision to deny it.”

At any rate, an “insider” assures Page Six that, “They have permits,” and “they have a house—just not the same house. Fans of the show have nothing to worry about. It’s filming this summer.” Whew!

 
Join the discussion...