No Slurpees for Amagansett
The Slurpee, 7-Eleven’s signature drink, allows customers to mix and match flavors such as birthday cake, cherry, and mango. None of that will be going on in Amagansett any time soon, however. On Tuesday, the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously rejected a request that would have opened the door to a branch of the nationwide chain taking over the old Villa Prince restaurant space east of the I.G.A.
In February 2014, Tom Preiato, then the town’s chief building inspector, issued a permit for the building. Two weeks later, though, he revoked it, ruling that Richard and Yvonne Principi, the owners, needed to go through site plan review not only for the building but for the entire property. The Principis, who had a signed lease for the building with the nationwide convenience chain, were appealing that revocation before the board on Tuesday.
The board, currently shorthanded by one after the retirement of Lee White, came to a consensus after all four members spoke in support of Mr. Preiato’s logic. David Lys started off the discussion, pointing out that the zoning code requires the building inspector to rescind permits that were issued in error. The error, in this case, is the property, which is the byproduct of several subdivisions, none of which were ever approved by Suffolk County. “They never signed off,” he said. “There never was a survey.”
Cate Rogers said that the Suffolk County Planning Commission had issued a conditional approval for the subdivision at the site, provided that the Suffolk County Health Department approved them as well, which never happened.
East Hampton Town had also approved a site plan, in 1977, Ms. Rogers said. But in 1997, Richard Whalen, then a town attorney, notified the Principi family by mail that the 20-year-old plan was no longer valid, because the calculations used for parking “would no longer meet the code’s parking requirements.”
Ms. Rogers said that the owners had lost their right to make improvements on the property. “The applicant has long known of the problems,” Ms. Rogers said, but had failed to act to remedy them.
Roy Dalene called the application that was given to Mr. Preiato in early 2014 “incomplete or misleading.”
John Whelan, chairman, said the owners needed to start from the beginning. “I’m surprised they did not go directly to site plan,” he said.
The board voted 4-0 to deny the appeal. Those seeking Slurpees can still drive to Montauk, where one of the busiest 7-Elevens in the nation is located.