To Demo a House and Build Anew for Second Time
The venture capitalist Fred Wilson and his wife, Joanne Wilson, are planning a family compound on Seabreeze Lane in Amagansett and to do so want to tear down a house they received permission to build there in 2010. A permit from the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals was, and would be, required because of the proximity of dunes and wetlands.
The Wilsons bought a house at 15 Seabreeze Lane in 2000 for $1.47 million, and, in 2012, two years after receiving their permit, replaced it with a larger one with Z.B.A. approval. On Aug. 30, Joel Halsey of Lighthouse Land Planning, representing the couple at a public hearing, explained their new plans.
They recently purchased an adjoining property where they intend to put up a house with several bedrooms for their three grown children and their families, he said. Doing so would mean they need fewer than the seven existing bedrooms at 15 Seabreeze Lane. Instead, they would like four bedrooms and meeting and theater rooms. “It is more expensive to retrofit the old house than to build a new one,” Mr. Halsey said.
The Z.B.A. gave the proposal its stamp of approval. “It is an aggressive project,” Roy Dalene said. He and David Lys expressed concern about drainage and water runoff from the new house, however, and the board agreed the town engineer should look into the matter. The board saw no reason, however, not to grant approval. The Wilsons will be able to demolish a house and build a new one for the second time in six years.
Not all applications that night were greeted positively. Joseph Eschenberg owns a house at 1919 Montauk Highway, at the intersection of the highway and Napeague Meadow Way. He has asked the board for retroactive approval of a 100-square-foot hot tub and a 330-square-foot deck, as well as fencing, which he built without permits. Several variances would be needed to legalize the additions.
The property is extremely constrained, Mr. Lys pointed out. Besides being at an intersection, the Long Island Rail Road tracks are directly to the north. Mr. Dalene noted that a 2010 survey of the property did not show a hot tub.
John Whelan, chairman, said the board had to look at the application as if it were an entirely new proposal. “If this was a new application, I would not approve the hot tub,” he said.
The board voted 4 to 0 to deny the application, with the board’s new member, Theresa Berger, abstaining. Later in the meeting the board tabled several applications to allow her to study them. Another applicant seeking variances for structures built without permits met much the same fate. Michael Scaraglino owns property at 189 Old Stone Highway in Springs, where he added a 489-square-foot first floor deck, enlarged the second floor deck, and added a pergola.
Cate Rogers started the discussion by pointing out that wetlands connected with Accabonac Harbor are to the north. “The applicant has to make his case for how this occurred,” she said. Further, she said, the lumber used for decking was treated with alkaline copper quaternary, a preservative that is environmentally damaging. She called for the board to “deny all aspects of this project.” The board did so, by the same 4-to-0 vote.