Government Briefs: 04.18.13

East Hampton Town

SEQRA for Cyril’s

    East Hampton Town Board members were split this week on whether to further entertain a request to change the zoning on the Napeague property that is home to Cyril’s bar and restaurant, and a vacant site next door.

After a 3 to 2 vote, the board will proceed with an assessment of the potential environmental impacts of the proposed change from a residential to a neighborhood business designation. Such an assessment is required under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. Councilwoman Sylvia Overby and Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc voted against taking that step, calling it unnecessary if the board was ready instead to decide that the zone change should not occur. The change would allow Cyril’s to resolve charges of violating the zoning code, which have wound up in court, based on an alleged expansion of the pre-existing, nonconforming restaurant use. The property’s owners, who lease the land to Cyril’s, have said that a zone change is the only solution, especially in light of County Health Department requirements. Others have said that it would allow the restaurant to expand, exacerbating parking and overcrowding problems. A hearing on the zone change drew numerous speakers, the majority of whom were against the change.

Enforcement Patrols Slated

    Town code enforcement officers will be walking a beat this summer in the downtown areas of East Hampton’s hamlets between 3 and 9 p.m. on weekends, according to a new program for seasonal, part-time staffing.  Patrick Gunn, a town attorney and director of the public safety division, said at a board work session on Tuesday that he hopes to hire six foot-patrol staffers who would be on the lookout for “simple violations” such as littering or taxicabs operating outside of established rules.  The part-timers would be similar to the traffic control officers, or T.C.O.s, hired by the Police Department each summer, and would serve as the “eyes and ears” for the senior ordinance officers and the police. With more limited training than full officers, they would not, however, address ordinance enforcement complaints generated by nightclubs, Mr. Gunn said. The town board is expected to authorize the hires with a vote at a meeting tonight.