New Bowling Alley Planned in Wainscott
The Oct. 21 East Hampton Town Planning Board meeting covered an array of topics, including plans for a new bowling alley, the conversion of what had been a furniture repair business to vehicle repair, and a public hearing about a concrete barrier in the parking lot at the Amagansett I.G.A., a.k.a. Cirillo’s Market.
A new bowling alley may be coming to Wainscott. Scott Rubenstein, managing director of East Hampton Indoor Tennis on Daniel’s Hole Road, along with Dave Weaver of George Walbridge Surveyors, gave the board a first look at a proposed 10-lane alley, with bocce courts, a game room, a sports bar, and other amenities to replace tennis courts that are now in a seasonal bubble. This would increase the coverage on the slightly over 24-acre property from just under 7 percent to a little under 10 percent.
“We want to make sure we aren’t going down the wrong route,” Mr. Weaver said, asking for the board’s guidance. “We can’t be wrong. It is a $6 million project,” Mr. Rubenstein added. The property is in a water recharge district and zoned for commercial-industrial use.
“We are about recreation. We are surrounded by 500 acres of reserve,” Mr. Rubenstein said. Describing the neighbors, he said, “We have the dogs here, the airport there, and the gun club there.”
Nancy Keeshan, a board member, asked the applicants to examine the traffic that would result, and although two other members, Job Potter and Kathleen Cunningham, had some skepticism about the proposal, the apparent consensus was expressed best by Mr. Jones. “I thank you for wanting to invest in the community. I think it was a sad thing when the bowling alley closed. I am supportive of what you are trying to do.”
In discussing the parking that would be required, and the board’s recent preference for non-paved parking surfaces, Ian Calder-Piedmonte addressed a larger issue. “As long as it is this board’s opinion that it is generally better not to have pavement, [the town board] should change the code. We are making the exception all of the time. It is a contradiction of our board policy and what the code says.”
One of two Amagansett matters to come before the board that night concerned 79 Spring Close Highway, for which Britton Bistrian presented a new site plan. The property, zoned for commercial-industrial use, is owned by Randy Lerner, who also owns several notable properties in Amagansett, including Amagansett Square.
There is a 2,685-square-foot building on the about one-acre property, which Eric Schantz, a senior planner for the town, said had long been a “furniture repair shop.” Ms. Bistrian said the building would be replaced, and a tent, which covers 424 square feet, would be replaced with a 245-square-foot greenhouse. The land is severely constrained by wetlands at its western border, however.
Ms. Bistrian said the property would be used to service tractors and trucks in connection with Mr. Lerner’s various properties. The site plan calls for a circular work area, with vehicles arriving and exiting after they were serviced. “It’s a workshop. It is just not a furniture workshop,” Ms. Bistrian said.
“It sounds an awful lot like a repair garage,” Marguerite Wolffsohn, planning director for the town, said. “I’m a little confused,” Ms. Cunningham said. “I just don’t see as it is currently configured that they are bringing trucks in there.” Mr. Potter suggested that the work area be moved closer to the front of the property, away from the wetlands. And the topography was also a concern.
“There is a downhill slope to the wetlands,” Reed Jones, the chairman, said. “I still don’t understand why the drive-through is needed.” Ms. Bistrian said she would sit down with Mr. Schantz and the town engineer, Tom Talmage, to do some reconfiguring and develop a narrative about the planned use.
The board split on whether to ask the applicant for an increased buffer area to protect the wetlands, with Mr. Jones, Mr. Potter, and Ms. Cunningham losing an effort to get that done, by a 4-to-3 vote.
With regard to the Amagansett I.G.A., Fran Cirillo had come before the board in 2011 and 2012, receiving a permit to expand and modify the store and parking lot. The changes were made as approved by the board, with the exception of the area at the eastern edge of the parking lot, where the board had wanted open access to the adjacent commercial property. A memo laid out as far back as 1976 by Thomas M. Thorsen, then of the Planning Department, called for “unified parking facilities,” and “fewer strategically placed entrance and exit ways.” The survey approved in 2012 showed an island separating the properties. But the island that was constructed
does not conform to the survey and has held up a certificate of occupancy for the building.
Robert Savage, Ms. Cirillo’s lawyer, told the board that Mr. Talmage, the town engineer, had approved the current configuration of the lot. He also said that the resulting traffic flow had reduced the number of accidents in the lot. He presented the board with a petition with about 270 signatures supporting Ms. Cirillo, and said more were on the way. Several members of the public spoke in support, as well, and the record was kept open until last night.