They Found Everything but the Bed
Armed with evidence of sleeping accommodations in a finished storage space over a garage and pool house on Cove Hollow Road — something prohibited under East Hampton Village Code — the village’s zoning board of appeals appeared ready Friday to deny a request to keep the storage space, which includes a full bathroom.
“They’re not using the upstairs portion for any kind of sleeping or habitable space,” Karen Hoeg, an attorney representing Lawrence and Lisa Cohen, told the board. “The bathroom is used very infrequently.”
“It’s not your typical garage,” John McGuirk, a board member, said dryly.
“Nor was it a storage space,” added Frank Newbold, the board’s chairman, describing a visit to property at 207 Cove Hollow Road during which an alarm clock, end tables, and empty space between them were observed.
“And an outline of a bed on the carpeting,” Lys Marigold, the board’s vice chairwoman, continued, “and a screwdriver and all the screws for taking the bed apart” left on the floor.
The second story of the detached garage on the Cohens’ property was converted into finished space before they bought it, Ms. Hoeg told the board. With that conversion, it exceeds the maximum permitted gross floor area for accessory structures. The Cohens also seek variances for two air-conditioning units adjacent to their house and within the side-yard setback, one adjacent to the garage, and for an existing trash bin on a concrete pad.
The Cohens’ application, Mr. Newbold pointed out, included an air conditioner for the garage. “It’s been converted, obviously, to habitable space with a full bathroom, and air-conditioned.”
Granting the variances would cause no detriment to the neighborhood, Ms. Hoeg said, as the finished space is within a legally existing two-story garage and the structures are heavily screened by vegetation.
But board members were clearly unhappy about the finished space. “As you are aware, our code clearly says the definition of garage states that no habitable space, toilet, shower, or bathtub shall be permitted inside a garage on any level,” and no plumbing is permitted on the second floor over a garage, Mr. Newbold said, adding that it should have been clear that the bathroom had been illegally installed.
Her clients would remove the bathroom, Ms. Hoeg said, but wish to maintain the storage area in its present state. Board members and Linda Riley, the village attorney, discussed whether or not the space would then be counted in a gross floor area calculation; if not, the variance request for the excess square footage could be disregarded.
But Ken Collum, a code enforcement officer, told the board that the Building Department includes finished storage space in that calculation, and reminded members that in a previous determination they had required that wall board and insulation on the second floor of a garage be removed. “If you want to be consistent,” he said, “if I’m not looking at roof rafters and no insulation, it counts” as gross floor area.
The board was divided, but, Ms. Marigold said, “I’m leery of precedent. We have made other people strip it down over garages. . . . We have to be very careful that this does not happen again.”
The consensus of the board, Mr. Newbold summarized, “seems to be to strip it down to what the Building Department considers storage space.” The board, he said, was less concerned about the air-conditioning units. The hearing was closed and a determination is expected at the board’s next meeting on Friday, April 24.
Several determinations were issued at the meeting. As expected, the board denied Andy and Jane Graiser’s application for variances to permit a proposed garage at 42 Mill Hill Lane to be built 10 feet from the rear and side property lines, where 22 feet is required. The Graisers’ application for a variance to install an eyebrow window in their house, which is still under construction, was also denied.
The East Hampton Historical Society was granted a special permit to relocate the historic Hedges Barn on Edwards Lane to the Mulford Farm on James Lane, as well as variances so that it can be situated within the side-yard setback and exceed the maximum permitted height and gross floor area for accessory structures.
The Maidstone Club, at 16 East Dune Lane, was granted a special permit and variance to construct a 1,102-square-foot building, with a 214-square-foot patio and entrance that will fall within the required rear-yard setback. It is to be used in conjunction with a golf practice facility.
William and Judith Hiltz of 118 Lily Pond Lane were given variances to keep a garbage bin within the required front-yard setback and an air-conditioning unit within the rear-yard setback. Lawrence and Susan Naeve’s application for a variance so that her house, which is 129 feet greater than the maximum allowable gross floor area, can remain as is.
David and Diana Swartz of 32 Cottage Avenue were granted variances for a stoop within the front-yard setback and walkways within the front and side-yard setbacks. And a prior determination, for Alfred and Stephanie Shuman of 33 Windmill Lane, deleted the stipulation of an annual inspection of their two-story pool house. The board’s ruling that no beds or sleeping be permitted in the structure’s lower level and that the applicants record a covenant to that effect, remains in place.