Owner Blames Her Parents

A deck, shed, and brick patio at 12 Deerfield Lane in the Beach Hampton area of Amagansett, all of which allegedly were built without permits next to, or even in, wetlands, received critical scrutiny Tuesday night at a meeting of the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals.

Tara Segara had applied for nine variances on the roughly quarter-acre lot, which has a 1,600-square-foot, two-story residence. She was asking to legalize three structures at the back of the house, which the code requires to be at least 100 feet from wetlands. The brick patio and rear deck are each less than three  feet away from the wetlands, while the shed is actually in them.

A memo on the application prepared by Tyler Borsack, a planner for the town, recommends that the application be denied and calls for the structures to be removed. He said they were built without permits and fail to comply with the rules governing environmental protection. He called for the land to be revegetated.

 Christopher Kelley, the applicant’s attorney, however, said such a radical response would do more damage to the wetlands than good. He explained that the brick patio and other structures were built in 1999 or 2000 by Ms. Segara’s parents and that she wasn’t aware that anything had been constructed without permits. Since one of the standards for approval of a variance is that the need not be self-created, he argued that it was the parents and not the daughter who were responsible. The board has 60 days to make a decision.

Before the meeting began, John Whelan, chairman, announced the resignation of Lee White of Montauk. Mr. White has served on the board several times and has been the only member of the board who lives in Montauk. When he was appointed to the board in 2014 by Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell to replace another Montauk man, Bryan Gosman, the supervisor noted the importance of a Montauk resident on the board. The search for that person will begin anew.

“Between work and board demands, there weren’t enough hours in the day,” Mr. White said in an email Tuesday explaining the reason for his resignation. “My kids are growing up too fast, and I wanted more time with them.” Mr. Gosman had cited similar reasons when he stepped down almost two years ago to the day.