Former members sue Devon Yacht Club; redevelopment fight centers in part on tennis courts and setbacks

Rod Richardson and Blake Fleetwood, ousted from Devon Yacht Club after opposing its $35 million redevelopment plan, filed suit against the club, its commodore, and other named members in New York County Supreme Court, with the club's insistence on keeping its tennis courts intact sitting at the center of a planning dispute that has been building for years along the Amagansett waterfront.

The complaint, filed alongside the plaintiffs' spouses, alleges fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, infliction of emotional distress, reputational harm, discrimination based on familial status, and corporate waste and mismanagement. Richardson and Fleetwood seek reinstatement to the club as well as compensatory and punitive damages for reputational harm in an amount to be determined at trial.

The tennis courts are not peripheral to the fight. Devon, which sits on 13.8 acres at 300 Abram's Landing Road, has eight courts on its environmentally constrained site; the club's redevelopment application calls for relocating or resurfacing seven of the eight rather than removing any. That position has drawn pointed resistance from regulators. The East Hampton Star noted the club "has been inflexible over requests to remove tennis courts or to move staff housing off site, which would allow for larger setbacks to numerous environmentally sensitive features on its 13.8-acre lot." Zoning Board of Appeals Vice Chairwoman Denise Savarese specifically rejected Devon's unwillingness to give up one court, noting its removal would allow more conforming building placement and better wetland setbacks for the parking area and driveway.

The redevelopment itself is an ambitious two-phase undertaking: demolish six existing buildings, construct five new ones, and move the entire building envelope landward toward Gardiners Bay. The club is seeking 20 variances from the ZBA, including nine for wetland setbacks and eight for dune crest setbacks. Of the $35 million estimated total, $23.2 million is proposed to be covered by a bank loan. The project has been in front of the East Hampton Town Planning Board for more than four years.

Richardson's path to expulsion ran through a petition he circulated internally, dubbed "Plan B," which club leadership characterized as usurping board authority. He received a disciplinary notice and was suspended. Fleetwood was similarly directed to a disciplinary meeting in November to determine whether he would be expelled. The suit describes the charges against both members as pretextual retaliation for their opposition to redevelopment, alleging ostracism, threats, and coordinated reputational attacks.

Phase one of the redevelopment, the demolition and reconstruction of the clubhouse, had been targeted to begin in September 2026. With litigation now filed in New York County Supreme Court, that timeline will face new scrutiny.