Assess New Golf Club Building, Old Barn

The Maidstone Club, which last year was granted special and freshwater wetlands permits and area variances to upgrade the irrigation systems on its 18 and 9-hole golf courses, was back before the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals on Friday.

The club now seeks to build a 1,102-square-foot structure with a 214-square-foot patio, to be used for golf instruction in conjunction with an existing practice facility. The project would require a special permit as well as variance relief to allow an accessory building on a lot that does not have a main-use structure.

The building would need several other variances as well. It would be too close to a side property line, and, at 19 feet 6 inches high, it would exceed the 14-foot maximum for an accessory structure. Also, its gross floor area would exceed the allowable 250 square feet.

David Eagan, an attorney representing the club, argued that the structure would be the principal building on its 6.5-acre parcel and therefore ought not be subject to the restrictions on accessory buildings.

With respect to the setback, Mr. Eagan told the board, the parcel was merged with an adjoining private road, both of which were conveyed to the club by the same deed. “On that basis, the setback should be measured from the far end of the private road, which gives us more than enough,” he said. “So we don’t believe that variance is necessary.” Regardless, Mr. Eagan added, if the board did not accept his analysis, he had submitted ample evidence showing there was no detriment to the neighborhood that would outweigh the benefit to the club.

The building would be heated, he said, and there would be some off-season use of it, “but this is not available to the membership to use on their own.” There would be no restrooms, sleeping facilities, or parking. Club members would walk to it “like any other use of the range.”

Unlike the irrigation upgrade, an application that was before the board for more than two years, the practice facility raised few concerns. “It’s set into a hollow,” noted Frank Newbold, the board’s chairman, “so it works very well with the topography.” The board closed the hearing and will issue a determination at a future meeting.

Another hearing that was considered and quickly closed concerned an application by the East Hampton Historical Society, which seeks to accept the donation of the Hedges Barn, a timber-frame building constructed in 1795, and move it to the Mulford Farm on James Lane. The plan is to disassemble it at its current site, on property owned by Helen Rattray, publisher of The Star. It would be reassembled in the fall. The project requires a special permit, as the Mulford Farm qualifies as a museum, and area variances, due to its proposed relocation 10 feet from a side property line, where the requirement is 33.64 feet. At 887 square feet, it also exceeds the maximum allowable gross floor area for accessory buildings.

Citing the “rare survival of 18th-century farm structures in the village,” Richard Barons, the historical society’s director, told the board that it was important to preserve the barn. He suggested that at Mulford Farm it could be used to display 18th and early 19th-century farm vehicles and equipment, most of which are now in storage.

With Robert Hefner, the village’s historic preservation consultant, Mr. Barons examined photographs taken before the 1938 Hurricane, as well as etchings made by the Impressionist painter Childe Hassam, to determine the barn’s optimum placement on the Mulford Farm grounds. “We realized that there were six or seven other sheds and barns that were over along the church side of the property,” he said, referring to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, “all of them destroyed during the hurricane. We realized that if we were able to put the barn close to the edge of the property, the streetscape would change very little.”

The Rev. Denis Brunelle of St. Luke’s sent a letter in support of the proposed project. All neighbors, Mr. Barons said, had been notified to ensure that there were no objections to the barn’s reassembly.

The board also announced one determination. Alfred and Stephanie Shuman were granted variances to allow the continued maintenance of improvements made to their poolhouse, on several conditions: No beds or sleeping will be permitted in its lower-level rooms, and the applicants will record a covenant to that effect with the Suffolk County clerk before a certificate of occupancy is issued. The covenant will also authorize annual inspection of the lower level of the poolhouse by the code enforcement department, on 24 hours’ notice.

Variances were also granted for the continued existence of a 1,152-square-foot swimming pool with 2,225 square feet of stone deck and landscaping; the construction of a new deck over the poolhouse with an access ramp; a new generator, and the relocation of existing pool fencing and deer fencing, all within the dune setback area seaward of the required 25-foot setback. The Shumans will remove a 225-square-foot storage shed, as well as lighting and irrigation, within the dune setback area. Their property is at 33 Windmill Lane.