Homeowners Wrangle Wicked Reeds
Phragmites, an invasive plant that thrives at the edges of ponds and streams, was the focus of the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals meeting on Friday, following the withdrawal last week of the Maidstone Club’s application for a bridge that would have spanned a section of Hook Pond.
Phragmites form dense stands that block sunlight, displacing native plants and damaging wildlife habitat. It can spread rapidly, its roots growing deep. Removing phragmites requires a freshwater wetlands permit from the Z.B.A. and approvals from the East Hampton Town Trustees and the State Department of Environmental Conservation.
On Friday, two experts told the board that it could be a years-long process.
Bruce Horwith, a conservation biologist, spoke on behalf of Pierre Lambert of 15 Chauncey Close. Mr. Lambert’s property is at the southern end of Georgica Cove, near a narrow channel that impedes water circulation with the rest of Georgica Pond. “It’s one of the largest stands of phragmites on Georgica Pond,” Mr. Horwith said, explaining that phragmites covers about one quarter of the almost four-acre Lambert property, which adjoins the bottleneck. He described a plan to do hand-cutting, estimating that it would take six to eight workers up to a week to accomplish, with subsequent cutting three to four times a year. The reeds would grow back, he said, but it is hoped they will weaken with each cycle of regrowth.
Larry Hillel, a member of the board, had questions about the process, asking if there were “no way to dig deep enough, in a second or third cutting, to eliminate the roots.” Mr. Horwith said that was unrealistic because “you definitely can’t hand-dig as you get up toward the wetland boundary itself.” Excavating with heavy machinery would be problematic and considerably more expensive, while in taking a cut-and-maintain approach, he said, “you start to influence what’s out there. You are going to weaken the plants.” However, he said, it might be appropriate, “say in two years’ time . . . to try to get approvals for hand-digging” rather than cutting.
The matter was left open so that Mr. Horwith and Billy Hajek, the village planner, could decide how to deal with a scenic easement on the property that had been illegally cleared, possibly by a previous owner. Restoration would involve the piecemeal conversion of existing lawn to native grasses and shrubs, Mr. Hajek said.
In another attempt to remove phragmites, Jeffrey Colle, a designer and builder of luxury houses, is seeking a freshwater wetlands permit to allow both hand-cutting and hand-digging at 81 North Briar Patch Road.
“The property has been maintained by interval mowing or cutting of the phragmites,” said Jim Walker, a consultant with the firm InterScience. If a permit were granted, he said, the applicant “can go in there and hand-dig the rhizomes and the plant material that remains, dispose of it properly, and the wetlands will restore back to native plant materials in fairly short order.”
Mr. Hajek noted that like at the Lambert property, it appeared that the property’s current or previous owner had “slowly chiseled their way to the water, so now almost the entire property is manicured lawn.” While the clearing or planting of vegetation within the required 125-foot setback from wetlands may have pre-existed, “it looks like some of it was done without proper approvals,” he said. “I’d suggest that they propose to restore some of that area that was cleared.”
Frank Newbold, the board’s chairman, asked that the applicant consider a vegetative buffer between the lawn and the wetlands. The town trustees had made the same request, Mr. Walker said. Mr. Hajek suggested using a 1990 survey to develop the parameters of a vegetative buffer, and he and Mr. Walker agreed to work together to that end. Like the hearing on the Lambert application, this hearing was left open. Both are scheduled to resume at the board’s meeting on Friday, Feb. 10.
Meanwhile, the board announced three decisions. Mariska Hargitay, an actress who is a star of “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit,” and her husband, the actor Peter Hermann, were denied variances to legalize a treehouse, playing court, and swing set that fall within required setbacks at 31 Cottage Avenue. The board also denied a variance to permit 63 square feet more floor area than that allowed for accessory buildings, but approved a variance to allow a slate walkway to remain within a setback.
Elie Hirschfeld, a real estate developer and theatrical producer, was granted variances with regard to a coastal erosion hazard area, dune setback, and zoning code provisions for the construction of three outdoor balconies on an existing house at 211 Lily Pond Lane. The balconies will be within required setbacks, south of the coastal erosion hazard area line, and within required setbacks from the ocean dune and beach vegetation.
The board also denied Randall Harris Swatek’s request for variances to legalize a shed and stone patio within the rear setback at 15 Church Street.