Starbucks C.E.O. Gets Z.B.A. Refill

    At a meeting on Friday, for the second time, the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals granted Howard Schultz, the president of Starbucks, and his wife, Sheri Kersch Schultz, an interior designer, a coastal erosion hazard permit and a variance to allow the construction of a deck and a 2,521-square-foot addition at the first floor and basement levels of their waterfront house on Gracie Lane. The property is just over four acres.

    The Z.B.A. first granted approvals on the Schultz’s application on April 29, 2011. It expired a year later because construction had not been completed. Because the new application was identical to last year’s, the board simply reissued the permit, adding a condition that a variance granted in 1986 allowing for more than 650 square feet of habitable floor area in a caretaker’s apartment be removed.

    The board’s decision was not without contention. In a letter submitted on Sept. 12, an attorney for Donald Kostin of 73 Lily Pond Lane argued that an alternate lot line calculation should be considered, which would require a side yard setback variance.

    The board decided, however, that the owners had demonstrated “that no reasonable, prudent, alternative site is available,” and had taken “responsible means and measures to mitigate adverse impacts on natural systems.”