No Roses Near Georgica Pond

A divided East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals decided Friday that a property owner on Georgica Pond may not plant a rose garden within the required 125-foot wetlands setback. The decision came less than one hour after village and town officials held a meeting at Town Hall with members of the town trustees, the Nature Conservancy, a neighborhood association, and a coastal ecosystem researcher to discuss the pond’s compromised ecological health.

Fertilizer is believed to be among the contributing factors to the excessive nutrients that are blamed for two consecutive summers in which dense blue-green algae blooms led to the pond’s closure to crabbing and warnings against contact with the water. Citing the blooms as well as the 2012 death of a dog that drank pondwater, Lys Marigold, the board’s vice chairwoman, told William J. Fleming, the lawyer representing the applicant, that those concerns “trump an owner’s wish to have a rose garden.”

The application was first heard in August, long after the property, at 40 West End Road, was “inundated” by Hurricane Irene and “battered again by Sandy,” Mr. Fleming said at the time. Emilia Saint-Amand, the widow of H. Frederick Krimendahl II, sought a freshwater wetlands permit and variances to permit excavation, fill, grading, planting, and drainage, as well as fences, walls, walks, and other paved surfaces, resulting in coverage greater than permitted by code. Ms. Marigold and other board members worried about the impact that fertilization, as well as drainage and irrigation, would have on the pond.

Over several meetings, the board asked that the plans be reduced. The property had stood “pretty much empty” before Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012, Frank Newbold, the chairman, said in August. Mr. Krimendahl died in 2014.

On Friday, Mr. Fleming submitted revised landscaping, grading and drainage, and erosion and sediment plans, calling them his client’s “last, best effort to meet the standards of the village.”

Besides moving a pool fence and removing a perennial garden, as the board had requested, the revised plan reduced the size of the rose garden and increased its distance from the wetland to 54 feet. “I recall a member, not happy, stating that a location 25 feet was too close,” Mr. Fleming said, referring to Ms. Marigold. Two 90-square-foot beds were removed, and the remaining four beds, totaling 351 square feet — “seven one-thousandths” of the parcel, he noted — would be planted with a variety of rose that requires less fertilization. A buffer zone planted with indigenous flora was added to the plan.

“Emilia has shown a legitimate concern for the pond,” Mr. Fleming told the board. She “has been told by many to withdraw the rose garden and simply put it in later, but Emilia is a good citizen, cognizant of her responsibilities as a custodian of the pond.”

“I used to live on Georgica Pond,” Ms. Marigold responded. “My two godchildren live there, they’re sailors. They were told the last two summers that they couldn’t even put their feet in, jumping off the boat. A dog died two or three doors away from them.”

“I’m not happy with the continued insistence on having a rose garden.”

While John McGuirk and Craig Humphrey said they would vote to allow the rose garden, Mr. Newbold and Larry Hillel sided with Ms. Marigold. “We’ve all been appalled by what we’ve read of the reports of Georgica Pond and what goes into it,” Mr. Newbold said. “It’s probably imperative for this board and other village boards to be very vigilant when they see an opportunity to take a step toward the health of the pond.”

Mr. Fleming then asked the board to approve the plan as submitted, absent the rose garden. “We’d like to move on.” The board agreed to consider it, and a determination will be announced at a future meeting.

Also on Friday, Peter Morton was granted variances to construct an 8,395-square-foot house and renovate an existing swimming pool, both south of the coastal erosion hazard area line, at 57 West End Road. The house, which is to closely resemble the historic oceanfront structure that was destroyed by fire last year, will also fall within required side-yard setbacks. Mr. Morton, a co-founder of the Hard Rock Cafe restaurant chain, was granted variance relief on the condition that he comply with the limits of disturbance, temporary silt fencing, and other notes included in the site plan.

Robert and Julie Taubman of 41 Two Mile Hollow Road can relocate a previously approved entry gate and call box, enlarge a utility area with a garbage bin, install fencing, and redesign a driveway and walkway below the 20-foot contour line running parallel to the double dunes along the ocean, where structures are required to be 25 feet landward of the line. The garbage bin and call box do not comply with required setbacks.

The Krupinski family received variances that will allow structures covering 4,074 square feet of lot area at 12 Pleasant Lane to remain; 3,141 square feet is the standard. The structures include a pool house, garbage bin, air-conditioning condenser units, steppingstones, patios, and pergolas, all of which comply with required setbacks.

The board granted William Drucker, Rhonda Rosenbaum, and Abby Drucker variances to allow enclosure of an existing front porch, the addition of a new porch, construction of a two-story addition, and installation of air-conditioning units and a window well at 20 Church Street. The house, which was built prior to zoning on a lot that is less than a quarter-acre, has nonconforming side and front-yard setbacks. The variances were granted on the condition that there be no bedrooms in the basement.

Ruth Mueller was granted a variance to allow 3,125 square feet of coverage at 55 the Circle, exceeding the maximum by 1,156 square feet. The board determined that Ms. Mueller was unaware that patios and walkways are included in lot-coverage calculations when she built the house, but that they do not produce an undesirable change in the character of the neighborhood or a detriment to nearby properties.

H. Christopher Whittle, co-owner of 90 and 100 South Briar Patch Road, was granted a wetlands permit for both properties for the removal of phragmites and other non-native species. The Elizabeth T. Peabody Trust was granted variances to allow a garbage bin and air-conditioning condenser to remain within required setbacks at 146 Newtown Lane.