Rowdy Hall is back in black.
A beloved East Hampton pub battled for months with the town’s Architectural Review Board over the facade color of its new digs on Main Street in Amagansett.
Rowdy, who previously lived in East Hampton Village for 26 years, wanted to keep black on the brand.
Rowdy Hall owner Mark Smith told the Post. Instagram @rowdyhallamg
Amagansett argued that it was not “in harmony” with the colors of the historic district.
“We didn’t want to do fuchsia and orange; they were totally mutually exclusive,” Rowdy Hall owner Mark Smith told the Post.
Rowdy Hall first submitted a request for a black facade in late summer.
After being turned down, Rowdy lived up to his name and painted it black without permission.
The town charged this business operator with a violation by not having obtained a building permit, and issued an order to stop construction.
Smith told the Post that the black was just an undercoat, but the town didn’t buy it.
In October, the review board denied the bistro’s application for blackening.
A month later, Mr Smith, who is part of the Honest Man restaurant group that owns Rowdy Hall, filed a section 78 petition to overturn the decision.
On March 22, East Hampton Town attorney Robert Connelly reached a settlement with the pub. Rowdy Hall could be painted black, but any further changes to the facade would require city approval.
“The codes are a bit vague. They are just guidelines, not hard and fast rules.” Connelly told the East Hampton Star.first reported this story.
Smith learned he could fight City Hall.
“From my perspective, we won,” the bistro owner said, adding, “When you feel like you did the right thing and you ticked all the right boxes and you were confident about it… We will fight,” he added.
Ms. Connelly did not return messages.
