Billionaire accused of destroying old dune

[DogPoundPup]

Source: UPI

NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- A New York millionaire destroyed a 3,000-year-old beach dune in East Hampton, N.Y. without official permission, an official in the town alleges.

Larry Penny, East Hampton natural-resources director, said Baron Capitol Management founder Ron Baron allegedly never received permission from area officials to destroy the ancient beach dune and a patch of protected vegetation, the New York Post said Monday.

"The dune was there, and now it isn't," Penny said. "Those are ancient, 3,000-year-old dunes, just carted away. This is part of our history here. It's a serious violation."

The dune was located near Baron's 40-acre East Hampton property that he purchased for $103 million last May.

The real estate purchase marked the largest payment for residential property in the nation's history, the Post said.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/11/10/Billionaire_accused_of_destroying_old_dune/UPI-56341226334907/

[Peregrine Took]

1. I don't want to call this guy a "pig" as they are way too intelligent to describe

him.

[onehandle]

2. Seize the property, tear down the man made structures, and make it a nature preserve.

An eye for an eye.

[LiberalFighter]

16. I agree! This was blatant and he should lose his property. And pay costs and fines.

[Lint Head]

3. This is what greed does. This fuck needs to go to jail.

:dem:

[salguine]

18. Whoa, whoa, whoa! This is a rich guy you're talking about! You'd best

check your tone, son! The rules don't apply to the rich, don't you know that?

[Submariner]

4. He should be made to pay for the restoration of the dune

Ross Perot did something similar years ago. He had an oceanfront home built (in the Bahama's I believe), and he dynamited a coral reef into oblivion so he could make a ship channel for his yacht to get access to the sea. These rich idiots rape the planet without consequence. sickening.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. He didn't get a permit b/c he knew he wouldn't get it or if he did get it,

it would be attendant with local protest and bad publicity.

He figured he paid enough, end of the story.

[Hugin]

6. WTF? "located near"?

It wasn't on his property even?

[bean fidhleir]

27. That was my reaction too. "Located *NEAR*"?!?!

The guy should go to prison, or at the very least have HIS property confiscated.

[damntexdem]

38. Why 'or'? He should go to prison AND have his property confiscated.

And pay a hefty fine on top of that.

[Doctor_J]

7. Maybe they'll fine him

:eyes:

[customerserviceguy]

8. Maybe he'll be eaten by a sandworm

just a little joke for you Frank Herbert fans!

[SnowCritter]

12. He is a Baron, after all

and he seems to be acting in a Harkonen-esque manner. What's the name of his estate again? Geidi Prime?

[customerserviceguy]

15. Good one, I missed that!

[Chovexani]

39. This wasn't even worthy of Vlad

I'd say it was more of a Rabban move.

[mcjackson]

17. "The Tooth...

...remember the tooth!!"

[myrna minx]

29. East Hampton has Spice?

:wow:

[DS1]

32. Only the Posh one

[Robb]

9. Not many details here, better story at link:

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-lidune1012157731nov10,0,7656096.story

[kentauros]

19. I had to groan at this quote:

Ackerman countered that no violation or permit is needed because "we believe we acted in an environmentally permissible way under the code." The material removed, he said, "would not qualify as a dune under the code."

Okay, isn't that about like a murderer putting their victim through a meat-grinder and then incinerating the remains stating that "the remains aren't a human being as defined by the law."

:eyes:

[DinahMoeHum]

10. Here's hoping a hurricane storm surge gets his house. . .

fucking asshole.

:evilfrown:

[hughee99]

11. This is not the first time

someone in "the Hamptons" has decided to just do this sort of thing without official permission (that they knew they wouldn't get). For these a-holes, it's easier to ask forgiveness and pay a fine if (as long as they get what they want) than ask for permission and never get it.

[Metta]

13. Arrogance and false entitlement. He figured it was easier to get forgiveness than permission.

... hope he pays through the nose.

[Maine-ah]

14. reminds me of Charlie Collie ripping up trees in Camden

when he got ticketed for it, he said, basically, whatever, I'll just pay the fines. He didn't give a fuck either.

[Ian David]

20. It obstructed his view of Venus. n/t

[lelgt60]

24. no...Alaska n/t

[acmavm]

21. He must have gotten his landscaping lessons from Diane

Feinstein. She demolished a public park when her manse was being refurbished.

[benld74]

22. But it was SUCH AN OLD DUNE! He's going to build a new better DUNE

[lelgt60]

23. Perfectly understandable. This is, after all, a democracy

He's got a billion votes. How many do you have?

[prole_for_peace]

25. His attorney is an asshole also...

"On Friday, an attorney for Baron, Leonard Ackerman of East Hampton, disputed the notion that the dune was environmentally protected, calling it 'a pile of dirt.'"

[mbperrin]

35. NOW he's mixing up his client with the dune!

Only one of them is a pile of dirt, and it ain't the dune.

Sounds like a case for old fashioned shunning. Do no business with him, and allow him no relationship with anyone or any business or other organization in the area. Might get lonely on that hilltop, might even make someone never want to come to their own property if it persisted long enough. I know of a case when I was growing up where a man was shunned for 20 years for gutting his neighbor's dog. The old bastard finally moved away, unable to even sell his property.

After all, why would you WANT to get to know a pile of shi- I mean, dirt?

[Number9Dream]

26. Remember when Ross Perot dynamited a coral reef?

Millionaires just hire lawyers and nothing happens to them.

Remember when Ross Perot dynamited a coral reef?

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975967,00.html?iid=chix-digg

[SmallTimeFarmer]

28. How about destroying a graveyard instead?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/07/18/let_noah_aldrich____lie_in_peace/

Bet his neighbors will be real friendly to him.....another rick prick from NY with more money than brains...

[brendan120678]

30. How exactly can you date a pile of sand at 3000 years old?

It's a pile of sand. Come on now.
Sure, he was a jerk if he tore it down and it wasn't really on his property.
But seriously - IT'S A PILE OF FREEKIN' SAND, PEOPLE!
If it causes environmental damage to his property, well that's his problem.

[Tansy_Gold]

31. You check the title page for the copyright date.

:eyes:

[natrat]

33. um.. there are things called laws, we live by them, apparently he broke one

if you don't like the laws try to get them changed
and if you do environmental damage to your own property it effects the community; thats why there are laws

[Orsino]

34. Personal lubricant? n/t

[yardwork]

40. According to the article, the dune had trees and plants growing on it.

It had been undisturbed for thousands of years. It wasn't just a "pile of sand." It was a whole world.

[Raine]

36. These types are so arrogant that they have no

respect or consideration for anything that came before them ... really sad (for them and everyone else). :-(

[quaker bill]

37. Well

Where I enforce environmental law, they would have to both put the dune back, and pay a penalty for having removed it. They would have to reconstruct it and revegetate it and then monitor it for five years to prove that it not only stayed in place, but regrew the vegetation.

By the way, I get this sort of thing all the time, and almost always the major damage occurs somewhere between the mansion and the water. The land gets restored and we use the penalties to buy more conservation lands.

It is a nice way to make a living.