Odors, Dust Blow In The Wind

The odor of fried onions emanating from the back door of the Palm restaurant, the "dust bowl" created by its unpaved parking area, and what neighbors say is inadequate screening around the Huntting Inn have plagued Irene Krone, Elizabeth (Peggy) Watson, and other Huntting Lane residents for almost 15 years.

They aired their concerns once again at an April 16 East Hampton Village Design Review Board meeting held to consider a new proposal to landscape the property and resurface a portion of its parking area with bluestone.

The discussion of what residents said were the property's thinning privets and aging fences led Mrs. Watson to the subject of the restaurant's "horrible odors," which, she said, come to her attention especially on hot summer days when the kitchen's back door is open.

"All they have to do is give up frying in old oil," she suggested.

"Signature Dish"

Linda Calder, innkeeper of the Palm, said fried onions were "one of our signature dishes."

"I can't have anyone to my house for lunch" because of the smells, Mrs. Watson complained.

Ms. Calder said the Palm had "tried to duct up" the kitchen aromas. Stephen A. Grossman, the inn's attorney, said it had no control over the direction of the wind.

New Landscaping

Richard Kalbacher, a Springs landscaper, wanted quick approval for his plan to put in a new stockade fence and additional cypress trees, and to direct a spotlight downward in an elm tree. "We don't want to miss the planting season," he said.

Citing a "long history of problems with this site," Carolyn Preische, the board's chairwoman, appointed a committee of D.R.B. members - Ina Garten, Clayton Morey, and herself - to review the plan and meet with the neighbors.

"The dust bowl is getting to all of us," Mrs. Krone reminded those gathered.

Funeral Parlor

In other action last week, the D.R.B. said the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home can proceed with the conversion of the East Hampton Medical Group building on Pantigo Road into a funeral parlor.

The board asked only that the owners provide exact figures on the proposed seating capacity for two chapels and the building's gross floor area.

The project now goes to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a special permit to alter the use of the property.