Proposals All Over the Place

The members of the East Hampton Town Planning Board had a smorgasbord of applications at its meeting on Oct. 8, ranging from a proposed delicatessen with an upstairs apartment in Montauk, and a request to divide a one-acre house lot in Amagansett, to a plan at an electric substation used by PSEG and National Grid, and a request from Verizon.

Eulalia Lazo owns an 18,206-square-foot parcel at 403 West Lake Drive in Montauk, which has a single-family house, although it is zoned for resort use. It is the owner’s intent, Eric Schantz, the senior environmental planner with the town’s Planning Department, told the board, to reconfigure the two-story structure into an 1,800-square-foot delicatessen, with an affordable apartment on the second floor. A special permit would be required, and the board members seemed enthusiastic about the plan.

Diana Weir, one of the members, expressed concern about the property having a narrow driveway, and Pat Schutte, a member who runs a septic services company, agreed. He cautioned that the new business might spread the sense of sprawl from the dock area. But Nancy Keeshan, a member whose real estate business is in Montauk, disagreed, saying the area was already mostly commercial. Several members applauded the affordable apartment idea but were uncertain if it would ever be available to year-round renters.

 A clause in the town code covering such apartments reads that they may be used “for seasonal rental to employees of the business operating within the same commercial structure.” As a result, there is a growing trend in Montauk for motels to buy housing for seasonal employees. In fact, Gurney’s Inn bought a motel on the same block as 403 West Lake Drive for that purpose.

The owner of a long, narrow one-acre rectangle of land at 38 Indian Wells Highway in Amagansett wants to subdivide it, but what might sound simple was unusual in several respects.

The property is between Montauk Highway and Further Lane, and, although zoned for one-acre house lots, already contains two houses, which were built before zoning limited each lot to one house.

Both houses, along with a detached garage, are on the half of the property closer to Indian Wells Highway. The front house is two and a half stories, while the back house is a smaller, one-story structure.

According to a memorandum from Mr. Schantz, Thomas Onisko, the owner, would like to tear down the smaller house, then build another one on the other half of the property. The result would be two houses and two lots, both of which would be smaller than zoning now requires. A variance from the zoning board of appeals would be needed, and the Z.B.A. had asked the planning board for its opinion.

Several board members expressed concern or even opposition to the proposal. “The main issue is, you’re down-zoning,” Ms. Weir told Britton Bistrian, the applicant’s representative. “I do think you are asking a lot,” Ian Calder-Piedmonte said. However, he also said that while he could not recommend approving the request, he was open to changing his mind.

Robert Schaefer suggested that his fellow board members refrain from sending any comment to the Z.B.A., but Job Potter disagreed. “We’re in one-acre zoning, and the applicants are asking to create half-acre lots. . . . I would recommend denial,” he said.

Ms. Keeshan expressed concern that a precedent might be set, and Reed Jones summed up what appeared to be the consensus: “I don’t blame the homeowner for splitting the property. A lot of people would like to do that, This is not proper planning.”

David A. Weaver of George Waldbridge Surveyors then addressed the board on behalf of the applicant. “This is not precedent-setting,” he said. “We have done many, many of these applications.” The board held off deciding what, if any, comments would be sent along.

The substation used by PSEG and National Grid is on Industrial Road in Montauk and on Fort Pond. According to Laurie Wiltshire of Land Planning Services, Marketspan Generation, a company that controls the nonnuclear generating assets of the former Long Island Lighting Company, wants to clear part of the site, putting in clean sand and gravel and an underground layer of plastic to prevent weeds. The substation would eventually be moved to the cleared area, which is less prone to flooding.

With the exception of the substation and a 50-foot-tall pole leased to T-Mobile, the facility, which contains oil tanks and generators, is obsolete, said Ms. Weir, who is a former member of the Long Island Power Authority’s board of trustees.

Because moving the substation might be years away, the board asked why the cleared land should not be allowed to have weeds.  Ms. Wiltshire said the company was concerned that if native plants were allowed to flourish, they might become an issue when it came time to clear the land again.

Mr. Potter suggested creating an “agreement with the town that would allow them to plant, but still have right to relocate the electrical substation.” It was an idea the board agreed to.

Back on Pantigo Road in East Hampton, Verizon wants to install additional equipment on its tower behind the town courthouse. The question of how much unused capacity would be left for the town to use for emergency communications was the central issue.

East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael D. Sarlo had sent an email to the board explaining that the town needed 10 percent of the total capacity on the tower and now has only 5 percent.

Ben Weisel, an attorney representing Verizon, told the board his client was willing to do major work to strengthen the tower, which would result in increased capacity. The board asked Mr. Weisel to meet with the police chief to layout his proposal.