Building Halted for Six Months

Having seen an onslaught of development and redevelopment in recent months, the Sag Harbor Village Board passed a moratorium at its meeting Tuesday night temporarily halting construction on single-family house lots and wetlands permits for 180 days while existing laws are re-examined. The moratorium, which had been introduced last month, applies only to applications submitted after Aug. 1, and does not affect commercial properties.

The moratorium is intended to avoid “overburdening the present capacity of the staff and regulatory boards,” while they assist in reviewing existing laws. The harbor committee will work with Rich Warren of InterScience, a village consultant, and Denise Schoen, the harbor committee’s attorney, on ways to strengthen the code as it applies to wetlands. Later in the meeting, the board tabled a proposed amendment of the wetlands regulations that addressed the definition of “substantial restoration and reconstruction.”

An exemption procedure is in place. “The rest of the process is identical to the moratorium used when the village was updating the business district” code several years ago, said Fred W. Thiele Jr., the state assemblyman who also serves as the village attorney.

Although a public hearing on the moratorium was held Tuesday, no one spoke, and it was adopted with little discussion by the board.

The board also considered three other proposed amendments to the code at the meeting, adopting two, which Mr. Thiele said were “housekeeping” items that had been recommended by Tim Platt, the former village building inspector, and holding off on one related to construction. The approved amendments address drainage requirements for swimming pools and several clarifications of the zoning code.

The amendment that was put off would have required property surveys to be no more than a year old when building permits and certificates of occupancy are issued. Mr. Thiele said that was a policy of the building inspector’s office, but had not actually been in the code.

Pierce Hance, a former mayor, questioned the language of this proposal as it applied to additions to main structures. The proposed amendment addressed only new construction, the addition of 250 square feet or more to an accessory structure, and driveways. Mr. Thiele said he would clarify the language and bring it back to the board next month.