Southold officials have clipped the wings of a controversial 6,000-hen egg farm after months of neighbor complaints — at least for now.

The town issued a stop-work order Monday at 2340 Ackerly Pond Lane, which borders the Jasmine Lane residential development, after officials said construction began before the proposed egg farm received Planning Board approval or a building permit.

The ruling directs 2340 Ackerly Pond LLC and applicant Grant Callahan, an NYU undergraduate, to immediately suspend all work until the Planning Board signs off and the Building Department issues the required permits.

Photos obtained by The Suffolk Times show the stop-work order pinned to a tree at the entrance to the property, as well as a newly erected hoop-style chicken shelter installed before the town halted construction.

The order marks the first formal roadblock for a proposal that has become one of Southold’s most contentious land-use fights — pitting the town’s farming identity against neighbors who say the project is too large, too close and moving too fast.

“It’s as if we don’t exist,” Leslie Herrlin, whose father John Reichert lives on Jasmine Lane, said prior to the town’s inspection. “They’re treating the neighbors like we’re not even humans.”

Planning Department records show the application remains pending under the name Ackerly Pond AG Barn, a proposed 70-by-30-foot agricultural storage building on the roughly 16-acre parcel.

The project shifted during the review process.

In a June 11 letter, Mr. Callahan asked the Planning Board to review the structure only as an agricultural storage building for farm equipment, feed and supplies, writing that “no other uses are being presented for consideration” as part of the application.

That change sent the proposal back to the Building Department and Fire Marshal for updated reviews.

Chief Building Inspector Michael Verity concluded a bathroom would not be required if the structure is used only for agricultural storage — and not for human occupancy, processing or public use, according to public records.

Fire Marshal Robert Corwin similarly determined a fire apparatus access road would not be required as long as the building remains a storage structure, though one would be necessary if people regularly worked inside, the records show.

Less than two weeks later, the town ordered construction stopped at the 15.95-acre property, which property records show was purchased for $650,000 in April 2025 by 2340 Ackerly Pond LLC.

Mr. Callahan did not respond to requests for comment. A phone call from The Suffolk Times ended without comment.

The Suffolk Times has requested inspection reports, permit records and other Building Department documents related to the stop-work order, including records showing what prompted the town’s inspection and what must happen before the order can be lifted.

One local resident familiar with poultry operations told The Suffolk Times the mobile shelters could reduce odor compared with a traditional fixed chicken house, though not eliminate it.

“I do know for a fact, chicken farms stink,” said the resident, who requested anonymity. “The way he’s planning on doing this with having movable coops … it definitely will cut down the smell big time. It might not kill it, but it will cut it down.”

The stop-work order is the latest flashpoint in a proposal that has divided the neighborhood since January.

About 30 residents packed the first public hearing, warning of odor, manure dust, rodents, flies, truck traffic, runoff, water use and falling property values.

At that hearing, Mr. Callahan described the project as a pasture-raised organic egg farm where the hens would rotate among six mobile shelters to prevent manure buildup and allow pasture to recover.

Mr. Callahan told the Planning Board in January he was trying to limit the farm’s impact.

“I’m trying to do what’s right for the environment and the animals,” he said.

Mr. Reichert, whose Jasmine Lane property backs part of the proposed farm, has been among the project’s loudest critics.

“I’m not going to be able to use my yard,” he previously told The Suffolk Times.

Ms. Herrlin, who posted video showing land clearing and construction at the site weeks before the town issued the stop-work order, said the fight has never been about opposing farming.

“This is bigger than chickens,” she said. “We’re not against chickens. The public is not anti-farm. Why aren’t procedures being followed? Because they should be.”

The post Southold issues stop-work order at controversial 6,000-hen egg farm appeared first on The Suffolk Times.

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