Perelman, Klein Have Phragmites in Sights

An application from the Everit Albert Herter Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which owns the property on Montauk Highway that the Highway Restaurant and Bar is on, drew a renewed warning from the East Hampton Village code enforcement officer when the zoning board of appeals met on Friday.

While the question of whether to allow three outdoor restaurant tables to be moved from a small slate patio on the west side of the building to a larger wooden deck on the easterly side drew debate, the board also had applications before it from Ronald Perelman, the investor and philanthropist who owns the estate on Georgica Pond called the Creeks, and Calvin Klein, the fashion designer who owns property at 75 West End Road. Both men are seeking freshwater wetlands permits to remove phragmites, an invasive plant.

The outdoor tables are a pre-existing legal use of the property, which is in a  residential district. The question is whether moving them to a larger area constitutes an expansion of that use, which would be prohibited. Ken Collum, the code enforcement officer, reiterated what he had told the board last month: approving the request would put an additional burden on his department during the hectic summer season.

In a recent visit to the site he said he found four tables rather than three on the patio, “so there is an expansion.” There are also string lights and benches around the larger deck, which he said were installed without approval of the village’s design review board.

Should the Z.B.A. grant the request, “You’re basically creating a code enforcement problem for us. You’re pushing it off onto us to constantly monitor and check this. We don’t need anything more on our plate right now,” he said.

In addition to the small patio, which Adam Lancashire, the restaurant’s manager, said is little used, Mr. Collum said the deck on the east side is used by smokers and those waiting for a table. “Now, it’s morphed into people waiting out there with their drinks. I don’t have a problem with that, but we need to keep the tiger in the box.”

Mr. Lancashire said that the fourth table had been an oversight and had been removed. “That’s the issue,” Mr. Collum said. “There are all these oversights that happen. I would like the board to be aware that our position is one of concern and enforcement.”

Andy Hammer, an attorney representing the applicant, said the deck would be a more desirable dining area, whereas the smaller patio, which is next to a driveway, is closer to the restaurant’s bar and more appropriate as a smoking area.

Lys Marigold, the board’s vice chairwoman, who presided in the absence of the chairman, Frank Newbold, asked the applicant to return with a plan for the proposed seating on the deck, with the benches removed. John McGuirk, a member of the board, added that the violations Mr. Collum referred to should be addressed. The hearing will resume at the board’s next meeting, on Friday, June 24. 

Bruce Horwith, a conservation biologist who is overseeing phragmites removal in several places around Georgica Pond, brought in four applications, three for Mr. Perelman, and one for Mr. Klein. The phragmites removal would also require permits from the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation and the East Hampton Town Trustees. (The trustees approved Mr. Klein’s application on Monday.)

On Mr. Perelman’s nearly 59-acre parcel, at 291 Montauk Highway, he also plans a vegetative buffer using native species. The applications, Mr. Horwith said, are the first he has brought to the board seeking permission to use low ground pressure equipment to cut and dig out the invasive species. The machines, designed to operate in marsh environments, are approximately the size of a golf cart, he said.

But the board had just received a letter from Rob Herrmann, an environmental consultant, expressing reservations about the machinery. Mr. Herrmann wrote that the preferred alternative would be hand cutting, according to Billy Hajek, the village’s planner. “It’s a lot more work for the applicant,” Mr. Hajek said, “but less potential for impact.” 

Mr. Horwith was agreeable, but said “those types of equipment are almost definitely going to be needed at some parts of the pond, even if not at this property.” There will be required excavation, which “is a disturbance,” he said.

Mr. Klein’s application includes a request for a variance to permit an existing poolside deck to remain partly within the side-yard setback at the 5.5-acre property. The applicant erects a teepee on the deck, Mr. Horwith said. He also owns the adjoining property, so no neighbor would be affected by the variance.

“It seems very benign, and it’s tastefully done,” Ms. Marigold said. The hearing was closed.

The board also announced three determinations at the meeting. Jeffrey Gurciullo and Patrick Joggerst were granted a variance to retain 4,358 square feet of coverage at 11 Cooper Lane where the maximum by code is 3,483 square feet. The applicants had initially requested a variance for 4,820 square feet of coverage so that decks and wooden walkways could remain on the pre-existing nonconforming lot, but agreed to remove one deck and some of the walkways. 

The board granted Steven and Joan Bader a variance to allow an existing chimney and roof overhang to remain four feet within the required side-yard setback at 66 Toilsome Lane.

The Jacob Nuri Elghanayan 2008 Trust, at 156 Georgica Road, was granted variances to allow the conversion of a garage to a pool house that is within the front and rear-yard setbacks, and to allow the pool house to have a floor area of 327 square feet. Such accessory structures are restricted to 250 square feet under the code. The board attached two conditions: A door from the bathroom to the pool equipment room must be removed and walled off with sheetrock, with future access to the pool equipment room via an external door only; and the septic system on the property must be approved by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services.