Do I need a permit for a tennis court in the Hamptons, and can I light it?

Everywhere

A tennis court is not a lawn feature; it is 7,200 square feet of accessory structure. East End land-use counsel puts it plainly: in every municipality here a building permit and a certificate of occupancy are required for almost every structure with a roof, plus decks, pools and playing courts. What differs is what the code asks of the court before the permit issues, and that is jurisdiction by jurisdiction. Where our only source is a summary of the code, we say so; the first call is the building department.

Town of East Hampton (Montauk, Amagansett, Wainscott, Springs)

The Town doubles side and rear setbacks for pools, pool decks and pool equipment (§255-11-88), and counsel says the same doubled setbacks usually apply to tennis courts across the East End; the Town’s own numeric court setback could not be read, so the builder confirms it. Fences are capped at 4 feet in front and side yards and 6 in the rear, with no published court exception, so an 8-foot court fence is a variance conversation. No structure within 150 feet of a wetland, with a Natural Resources Special Permit near one; the clearing limit is 15% of the lot or 20,000 square feet, whichever is less, with a 2025 proposal to cut it to 7% plus 1,500; the noise code allows 65 dBA by day and 50 at night at a residence. The permit desk ran 16–20 weeks behind its 15-day clock in 2026.

Village of East Hampton

The Village doubles its accessory-structure setback for playing courts, swimming pools, pool equipment and pool houses, expressly for noise (Chapter 278, as summarised). Inside its four historic districts every fence goes to the Design Review Board; outside them a fence 50 feet or more from the street may reach 8 feet without that review. Permits issue in two to four weeks when the application is complete; summer construction hours are Monday to Friday 8 to 6 and Saturday noon to 4, no Sundays.

Town of Southampton (Bridgehampton, Water Mill, North Sea)

The Town’s zoning booklet names tennis courts twice: they count against the 20% coverage limit of the required rear yard along with pools, decks and patios (§330-77D), and they are not allowed in required side yards (§330-76D). Accessory structures keep 110 feet from the street and 50 from the side and rear lines on five-acre CR200 lots, 90 and 30 on CR120 to R60, 70 and 20 on CR40 and R40, 50 and 10 on R20 and R15, 40 and 8 on R10; lot coverage runs 5% to 20% by district. Structures keep 125 feet from wetlands, and the setback relief the Town grants principal buildings is expressly not granted to accessory structures; inside the Aquifer Protection districts a lot may clear 75% at 15,000 square feet down to 15% above 200,000. Fences need a permit above 4 feet and are capped at 6; the proposed court must be staked by a licensed surveyor.

Village of Southampton

On August 17, 2026 the Planning Board adopted design guidelines for pickleball, padel and multi-sport courts that also govern the conversion of existing tennis courts: courts sunk at least four feet below grade wherever site conditions reasonably permit; a written acoustic analysis by an acoustical engineer demonstrating compliance with the noise chapter at maximum use; a barrier no higher than 10 feet, continuous to the ground, STC 32 and NRC 0.85, in a dark colour; dense evergreen screening from a species list; play between 8 a.m. and dusk; full retention of a two-inch storm on site; no outdoor lighting for playing courts except as codes or safety require, and none for night play; use by residents and guests only. The Village’s coverage formula, 14% plus 1,500 square feet capped at 30%, counts tennis courts expressly; deer fencing is not permitted at all.

The villages of Sagaponack and Sag Harbor

Sagaponack settled a 2012 dispute over court noise by letting a court sunk at least four feet keep the existing setback while a court at grade meets 150% of it; whether the law passed as drafted and what the code says today we could not read, so ask the Village. Sag Harbor has no court chapter we could find; its pool rule (15 feet, above the seasonal high groundwater as proved by a test hole) is the analog, and its historic-preservation board sees any hardscape visible from the street.

Lights

Lighting costs $2,000–6,000 nationally and is the easiest line to lose. Southampton Village forbids it for courts outright; everywhere else the noise codes and the review boards are the practical limit, because a lit court is a court in use after 7 p.m., when the Town of East Hampton allows 50 dBA. We say which applies before a quote includes a pole.