Merger Proposed for Wainscott Corner
The owner of property at the southeast corner of Montauk Highway and Sayre’s Path in Wainscott, which prompted an unsuccessful suit by neighbors when it was before the East Hampton Town Planning Board in 2012, is back before the board. This time, Michael Davis of Michael Davis Design Construction, a builder of high-end houses, proposes merging the properties to the east, clearing them, and building a new structure for his business.
Laurie Wiltshire of Land Planning Services, representing the applicant, told the board on Sept. 16, during an initial site plan review, that Mr. Davis wants to combine the lots, take down the existing structures at 405 and 407 Montauk Highway, and replace them with a larger building and a storage garage. She said Mr. Davis’s construction company, as well as the landscaping company belonging to his son Jonathan Davis are using the two sites. The single 2,104-square-foot building that would result has the exact square-footage, combined, as the structures it would replace. Ms. Wiltshire said there was not enough room in the existing buildings for meetings, nor was there enough space for parking.
In the original project, Mr. Davis received approval from the Building Department and the planning board to build both a business and a small house on the site, although the land is zoned for residential use, because its business use predated the town’s zoning. David E. Eagan of Eagan and Matthews sued on behalf of Concerned Citizens of Wainscott to stop the project, but lost.
Besides being zoned for residences, the two half-acre lots are in a one-acre zone. Ms. Wiltshire argued that merging them would create a single conforming lot. However, in a memorandum to the board, JoAnne Pahwul, the town’s assistant planning director, said a question had arisen as to whether combining “the square footage of the two nonconforming uses into a single new structure for an office use is permitted.” She told the board a decision from the town’s lawyers and Building Department is pending.
Ian Calder-Piedmont questioned why the Planning Department’s resources were being spent on a project that might not be legal. He agreed with thinking laid out by Job Potter, a fellow board member. “I’ve never heard of taking two nonconforming lots and merging them into one,” Mr. Potter said, suggesting that the existing buildings might lose their status as legal pre-existing and nonconforming uses. Kathleen Cuningham, another member of the planning board, agreed.
Mr. Potter also called the use of the storage garage a red flag. Denise R. Schoen, Mr. Davis’s lawyer, promised the board, in turn, that no heavy equipment would be stored there.
Other board members took varying positions on the zoning question, though several praised the original project. “That corner property was a significant improvement,” Reed Jones, chairman, said.
All members agreed, however, that the presentation was well done. Roger Ferris, Mr. Davis’s architect, placed a wooden scale model on a survey for the board to consider the proposal in three dimensions. “Can I bring these home for my kids?” Mr. Jones asked.