Noise Setback? Not Yet
The adoption of amendments to East Hampton Village’s zoning code has been postponed for a second time, Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. said at Friday’s meeting of the village board, pending a full vetting.
The proposed code changes have three primary objectives. One would create separate side and rear-yard setback requirements for accessory buildings that are less restrictive than those for a principal building. Setbacks would be doubled, however, for accessory buildings and structures deemed “noisemakers,” such as playing courts, swimming pools, pool equipment, and pool houses.
On the recommendation of the planning and zoning committee, the amendments would also create a new method of calculating setbacks for narrow and shallow lots, which would not only make the calculation easier but also yield more consistent results. The existing formula is particularly complicated, Bob Hefner, the village’s director of historic services, told the board last month.
The committee had determined that current alternative setback regulations may be widely interpreted, are difficult for the average resident to calculate, and artificially reduce the width and depth of properties, allowing too much relief for the construction of principal buildings.
The amendments would also exempt from principal residential setbacks the parts of a house that do not contribute to its mass, instead making them subject to the new accessory structure setbacks. With this change, window wells, cellar stairs, Bilco doors, exterior chimneys, stoops, and open porches could extend beyond the principal structure’s setbacks.
On Friday, the board closed the public hearing on one of the proposed amendments, which largely makes changes and additions to the definitions section of the code. The hearing on the other was left open, however, after an attorney who often appears before the Zoning Board of Appeals asked that the proposal to double setback requirements for “noise-making” structures be reconsidered.
“There’s an illogic to it, in my mind,” the attorney, Andy Goldstein, told the board. Some property owners would benefit, he said, while others would be penalized.
“What I would ask is that you simply require those structures to adhere to the setback provision for the particular lot,” he said. “It seems to me that there’s no reason to give them any relief, and in many instances no reason to impede the property owner in how he wants to develop the property.” Mr. Goldstein is a former chairman of the zoning board.
The mayor said the board would seek the counsel of Billy Hajek, the village planner, and Ken Collum, the code enforcement officer, as to the setback provisions for noise-making structures before voting on the amendment. “As elected representatives, we want to get it right, make sure we listen to everybody,” he said. “I think we’ll have a complete definition at the work session in March,” which will take place next Thursday.
The board also received an update on a proposed street fair from Steven Ringel, executive director of the East Hampton Chamber of Commerce, who had suggested on Feb. 2 that a fair be held on Newtown Lane on May 20. The board had several questions at that meeting and asked for more details.
All the merchants he has spoken with are in favor of the idea, Mr. Ringel said, and plans have been made and funding secured for parking, shuttle service, and garbage collection.
The board members Richard Lawler and Barbara Borsack, who met with Mr. Ringel to discuss the proposal, called the meeting positive. “Barbara and I made it clear at that time that we wanted to make sure we had support of the business community before we went ahead with this,” Mr. Lawler said. “I think we need to have a little more discussion about some of the village ordinances we may need relief from . . . but it sounds like he’s got support from a good portion of the business community.”
“My impression was that things had been thought out well,” Ms. Borsack said. “It seems to me like they’ve done their homework.”
The mayor asked for at least one more discussion between Mr. Ringel, the board members, Becky Molinaro, the village administrator, and representatives from the school district and the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter, both of which would accommodate parking.
Mr. Ringel agreed. “We want it to be extremely well organized and planned and carefully done,” he said, “so that it can be something we’re all proud of, and a success.”