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Village Gains Concessions From Owners

By
Christopher Walsh

Proposed changes on the Drew Lane property owned by David Zaslav, the president of Discovery Communications, and his wife, Pam, had been reduced since the last time the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals looked at them, and the board closed its hearing on the matter on Friday. The oceanfront property was purchased from Jerry Della Femina for an estimated $25 million, and the application from the Zaslavs had been before the board since November.

Along with the renovation and expansion of the existing house, which was reported to have eight bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms at the time of the sale, the Zaslavs had initially sought to construct a new swimming pool and a new, 767-square-foot building to be used as a garage, storage area, and pool house on the 1.7-acre property. In addition, plans call for a new sanitary system, expanded driveway, and new drainage structures, stairways, and landscaping.

The property is entirely seaward of the coastal erosion hazard line as determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the plans require a coastal erosion permit and variances. The board had scrutinized the plans and worried aloud about the potential impact on the primary dune. The Zaslavs subsequently abandoned a new swimming pool, and on Friday, Richard A. Hammer, the Montauk attorney representing the couple, said they had made additional “very positive changes.”

In the most significant revision, Mr. Hammer said, no fill would be removed from the property as initially planned. Instead it would be used to bolster the dune in an area adjacent to the existing pool house, which is to be demolished. That area is at present a hollow that, in the event of a storm surge, could allow water to flow to inland properties, Frank Newbold, the board’s chairman, said. The fill, he said, “will plug in that gap, and be a more natural dune-scape at the crest of the dune.”

Six decorative posts that were proposed for the ocean side of the house would be replaced by brackets, Mr. Hammer told the board, eliminating excavation farther into the dune setback and allaying another of the board’s concerns.

At the board’s request, Rob ­Herr­mann,­ a coastal management specialist, reviewed the applicants’ revised plans. On Friday, he said the Zaslavs’ decision to retain the existing swimming pool removed a potential for significant disturbance of the dune. Demolition of the legally pre-existing pool house, which sits atop the dune, was another positive, he said. “That is not nominal mitigation, to get rid of that building,” he said, calling its removal “a benefit to the dune crest and the village.”

Without this project, Mr. Herrmann said, there would be no dune reconstruction, restoration of dune vegetation, or removal of the old pool house. The board “is reaching the point now that you’re getting a reasonable tradeoff,” he said.

Nonetheless, Mr. Herrmann recommended that the board ask the applicants for a depiction of the proposed contours of the restored dune, calling it “the most significant part of the project in terms of a positive for the board” and “worth the applicants’ time” to provide it.

Mr. Hammer said his clients’ agreeing to renovate and expand the existing residence rather than demolish the house and build a new one was “a dramatic improvement.”

The board also announced several determinations. John Calicchio of 306 Georgica Road and David Gallo of 94 Apaquogue Road were granted freshwater wetlands permits to remove phragmites and other invasive plants and to replace them with native vegetation.

Arnold and Mildred Glimcher of 60 Georgica Close Road received a freshwater wetlands permit to allow the continued maintenance of air-conditioning units and the placement of a generator within wetlands setbacks. Andrew Anderson of 196 Cove Hollow Road was granted variances to allow the construction of a window well and placement of air-conditioning units within a required side-yard setback. And the estate of Joseph Kazickas at 140 Egypt Lane was granted a variance to allow a shed within required setbacks to remain.

The board announced that the artist Audrey Flack and her husband, H. Robert Marcus, had withdrawn their application for a proposed shed at 10 Cottage Avenue. Ms. Flack had sought a 432-square-foot shed with a height of 18 feet, 3 inches in which to store sculpture. But the code limits such structures to 250 square feet and 14 feet in height.

 

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