Howard Schultz, East Hampton Part-Timer, Eyes Presidential Bid

Astute attendees of an Aug. 17, 2018, appearance by Howard Schultz at the East Hampton Library may have detected more than a hint of presidential ambitions when the former chief executive officer of Starbucks was interviewed by Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times as part of the library's Tom Twomey Series of conversations.

Mr. Schultz, who, with his wife, Sheri Kersch-Schultz, owns a nearly five-acre property on Gracie Lane in East Hampton Village, took a large step toward a 2020 bid for the presidency over the weekend when he appeared on the CBS newsmagazine program "60 Minutes" and again in The Times, where Mr. Sorkin, The Times's financial columnist, wrote that he is preparing to run as an independent "and had already begun the groundwork required to be on the ballot in all 50 states."

Other than his August appearance at the library and the popular Starbucks store on Main Street, Mr. Schultz's footprint in the village has mostly been in a protracted struggle with officials over what he can and cannot have on his oceanfront property. Via legal representatives, most often Leonard Ackerman of the East Hampton firm Ackerman, O'Brien, Pachman & Brown, he and Ms. Kersch-Schultz have appeared before the village's zoning board of appeals numerous times seeking permission to build or maintain various structures on their property at 14 Gracie Lane.

Mr. Schultz, whose book "From the Ground Up: A Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America" was published on Monday, was unsparing in his assessment of both major political parties, and particularly of President Trump. "We're living at a most fragile time," he told CBS's Scott Pelley. "Not only the fact that this president is not qualified to be the president, but the fact that both parties are consistently not doing what's necessary on behalf on the American people, and are engaged every single day in revenge politics."

He told The Times that he would travel the country for three months as part of a tour to promote "From the Ground Up" before making a decision as to whether or not to seek the presidency.

Describing himself as "a lifelong Democrat," Mr. Schultz, 65 and with a net worth in excess of $3 billion, said in the interview that the ideological extremes have gained outsized influence over both major political parties. "We are sitting today with approximately $21 and a half trillion of debt," he told The Times, "which is a reckless example, not only of Republicans but Democrats as well . . . a reckless failure of their constitutional responsibility." He pledged to embrace good ideas from any corner "because I am not in any way in bed with a party."

He told "60 Minutes" that undocumented immigrants should have a "fair and equitable way" to become citizens. He criticized both parties in saying that, while "every American deserves the right to have access to quality health care," Democrats are proposing "something that is as false as a wall" in promising free health care for all, "which the country cannot afford." He criticized the Republicans' tax overhaul -- "I would not have given a free ride to business . . . but I would have significantly addressed the people who need tax relief the most" -- and said that President Trump made a "tremendous mistake" in withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

"Is it in our national interest to have a fight with Mexico, Canada, the [European Union], China, NATO?" he asked on "60 Minutes." "Give me a break! No, it's not in our interest. These are our friends, these are our allies. We are much better as a country being part of the world order."

Mr. Schultz spoke of "a long history of recognizing I'm not the smartest person in the room, that in order to make great decisions about complex problems I have to recruit and attract people who are smarter than me, more experienced, more skilled."

Ms. Kersch-Schultz oversees the Schultz Family Foundation, which links disadvantaged youth and veterans to jobs.

Mr. and Ms. Schultz's Gracie Lane property has been before the village's zoning board many times in recent years. In one lengthy hearing, the Z.B.A. ruled that a 650-square-foot caretaker's apartment attached to a four-car garage on the property contained habitable floor area in excess of what a prior board had allowed, denying a request that the apartment be allowed to remain in that condition.

The Schultzes bought the property in 1995, nine years after the board had approved the single-story garage and apartment. Subsequently, the prior owner converted three garage bays into three additional bedrooms, more than doubling the size of the apartment. In 2012, the Schultzes were granted a variance and coastal erosion hazard permit to add two bedrooms and two bathrooms to their main house. The building inspector, however, noted that the accessory structure did not match the description in the certificate of occupancy, and the zoning board asked that the caretaker's apartment be reduced to its original size, a condition to which the applicant agreed but did not honor.

Ultimately, the board ruled, in August 2014, that the apartment must be restored to its original 650 square feet and that the additional bedrooms be reconverted to garage bays and storage areas.

During deliberations, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. was among the attorneys arguing on the Schultzes' behalf. The hearing also reignited a years-long legal action by a neighbor, Donald Kostin of Lily Pond Lane, who has right-of-way access to the Atlantic Ocean over the eastern edge of the Schultzes' property and argued that improvements made on that part of the lot over the years were detrimental to his access.

More recently, the Schultzes have been before the Z.B.A. seeking variance relief and coastal erosion hazard area permits for matters including construction of a beach storage shed, outdoor shower, brick patio and walkway, reflecting pool, and garden bench; installation of a sculpture; relocation of a liquid propane tank, and lot coverage greater than the maximum permitted under code. In September, the Schultzes were granted a coastal erosion hazard area variance to allow reconstruction of a swimming pool and spa with alterations, as well as a variance allowing the pool to fall within the side-yard setback.