Motel Eateries Are Targeted

In response to the recent transformation, particularly in Montauk, of motel bars and restaurants into popular stand-alone destinations, the East Hampton Town Board is preparing to revise the town code to prohibit new motel-based bars and restaurants in residential zones.

Many of the Montauk facilities in question are in residential areas, but pre-exist the zoning code and, as such, are allowed to continue. However, their popularity has begun to create problems, such as noise and crowding, for neighbors.

Under the new law, motels with a minimum of 25 guest rooms in commercially zoned areas could apply to the planning board for permission to have a bar or restaurant, subject to special-permit standards. They would have to have adequate parking, and be found to be compatible with the neighborhood.

The proposed law will be the subject of a public hearing, which has not been scheduled.

Revisions to the code will also address the development or redevelopment of buildings in commercial areas of the town.

With Beth Baldwin, a town attorney, and Marguerite Wolffsohn, the town’s planning director, the board also discussed on Tuesday how to write a law that would prevent close-to-the road development in highway-front areas like Wainscott, where buildings are typically set back and a buffer is usual, while continuing to allow the traditional sidewalk-front downtown commercial buildings in hamlets such as Amagansett and Montauk.

Draft legislation presented to the board for discussion would allow the planning board to require a greater setback from the road for buildings in central business districts, where a 10-foot minimum setback is now required. The planning board would be allowed to consider the surrounding area and to require developers of a commercial building to adhere to the established standard regarding how buildings are placed. 

A greater setback would not be necessary unless the planning board requires it, in order to allow downtown-style development to continue where appropriate. A pyramid law would be enacted, limiting the height of buildings according to their proximity to property lines, and a hearing required if there are modifications to the building plans.

The law as proposed would apply to two categories only, supermarkets and “superstores,” which are large retail stores. Supermarkets, according to the code, may be as large as 25,000 square feet, and “superstores” may be 10,000 square feet.

Supervisor Larry Cantwell said other types of stores should be on the list as well. “It’s really, any commercial development along the highway should be set back.”

Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc agreed. “The real issue is the mass and scale.”

Ms. Wolffsohn said the overall issue of “zoning the streetscape” was the kind of question to be addressed in forthcoming planning studies of the individual hamlets. “Are you asking us to do something like that now?” she asked Mr. Cantwell. “It really is a part of the hamlet studies.”

“Can’t we find a way to do this without creating a revolution — of zoning?” Mr. Cantwell asked. “I don’t want to delay this. I think this is important, and it’s something we’ve got to get done.”

The discussion was occasioned by the redevelopment of the old Plitt Ford building on Montauk Highway in Wainscott, now a HomeGoods store. It opened on Sunday.

Though the 15,000-square-foot building’s size remained the same, and it complies with existing town code, it stands out along the highway. Many have wondered how such a building was allowed so close to the road.

Board members asked the planning staff to draft a revised law, which will be discussed at a future meeting.