Ross’ Hamptons barrier a bust

When the board took too long to hear his application, Ross preemptively built the barrier — a 6-foot fence on top of a 3-foot berm along the property line adjacent to Montauk Highway. That move didn’t sit well with the board, which heard his application on May 17, 2001.

Ross, who now oversees trade talks with Mexico, told the board members at the hearing that the preemptive build was “ill-advised,” but his contractor had said it was OK.

“I’m not trying to make trouble in the community or be a wise guy, or any other thing like that,” he said, according to a transcript of the hearing.

Ross said he had only visited the home once before he bought it.

He also claimed that, although he had been vacationing in the Hamptons since the 1960s, he had no idea how loud Montauk Highway traffic was.

Ultimately, Ross’ application was shot down, with the board saying the wall was too high. In 2003, he filed a petition in Suffolk County Supreme Court, asking a judge to overturn the decision. Three years later, the judge instructed Ross to refile an application — which was also denied.

Keith Tuthill, one of the board members who denied the application, told the Daily News it’s highly unlikely Ross didn’t know about the traffic when he purchased the home.

“Wasn’t Montauk Highway there before Wilbur Ross got there?” Tuthill asked.

After losing the war over the wall, Ross put the home up for sale — but the noise didn’t affect the asking price. A buyer paid $4 million for the estate in 2007 — $2.65 million more than what Ross paid.

A spokesman for the Commerce Department secretary said Ross had been assured that the barrier was in compliance when he had it erected.

“Upon discovering that it was not, they applied for a variance,” the spokesman said. “After it and the subsequent appeal were denied, they sold the home and lowered the barrier’s height to bring it into compliance.”