Yes, Says Z.B.A., It’s a Bluff, Not a Hill

The team representing Marc Rowan — who wants to knock down four small cottages on Firestone Road in Montauk and replace them with three larger ones, each with its own small pool — failed to convince a majority of the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals to override a building inspector’s ruling that is holding up his plans. 

The property, a long rectangular piece of land fronting Fort Pond Bay immediately north of the Montauket, has what the building inspector determined to be a bluff crest running perpendicular to the coast. Mr. Rowan’s team appealed the determination, arguing that the geographical feature should not be classified as a bluff. If it is a bluff, variances would be needed to build the cottages in the planned location. Bluffs are protected features, and the zoning code requires construction to be set back a certain distance from them. 

His representatives came close to convincing the board, with two members voting to override the determination and two voting to uphold it. John Whelan, the board’s chairman, recused himself because he is a project manager for Mr. Rowan’s architectural team, Stelle Lomont Rouhani. Elizabeth Baldwin, the board’s attorney, informed it that a split vote in this case would be a denial, since it would take a majority of the board to overturn a building inspector’s finding.

There was considerable debate among board members. Roy Dalene and David Lys both agreed with the applicant that the feature in question was not a bluff but the product of glacier movement, which created a hollowed-out area. Cate Rogers and Theresa Berger disagreed. 

“I think the applicant was attempting to add language to the code,” Ms. Rogers said. 

“This is more of a hillside than a bluff,” Mr. Lys said. He also recalled a point made by the applicant that there was a lack of water action against what the town has deemed a bluff.

The decision means that Mr. Rowan’s team will be back before the board to seek the variances needed to complete his project.

The third time was a charm for Carter Burwell and his wife, Christine Sciulli, who finally won approval on Tuesday for the variances and permits they will need to build a 782-square-foot second-floor addition and a 597-square-foot studio on their Marine Boulevard property in Amagansett. 

Twice since they purchased their house in 2010 they had asked for variances and permits, but the board had rejected their previous plans as overly ambitious. On Tuesday, Mr. Dalene called the latest iteration a “brilliant redesign,” as the board voted 5-0 to approve their application. 

The board also approved Esther Rubin’s request to legalize a pool patio that had been built too close to the edge of her property, although they were skeptical of her explanation. Mr. Dalene said that it seemed, during the Nov. 1 hearing on the issue, that Ms. Rubin was “blaming everyone else.” 

“It is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission,” Mr. Lys said, while noting that the request was not detrimental to the neighborhood, before joining the rest of the board in the 5-0 vote to approve.

Mr. Lys was the lone member to vote to approve an application for a house to be built at 22 Shore Road on Napeague, next to the White Sands motel. The 4-1 vote against the application marked the second time the applicant, a limited liability company with an Islandia address, has been turned away by the board this year.

The problem the applicant has is that the property is almost entirely on duneland. While the proposed 3,602-square-foot house, with 1,056 square feet of decking, porches, and a swimming pool, is somewhat smaller than what was previously proposed, the size of its footprint did not sit well with the four members who voted against the needed permits. “Is this design their best effort? Are there better alternatives to this?” Ms. Rogers asked. 

“There are alternative designs available,” Mr. Whelan said.

Finally, the board voted 5-0 to approve the application of Michel and Caroline Zaleski to replace a World War II-era house at 75 Dune Lane in the Beach Hampton section of Amagansett with a new 5,304-square-foot house with a pool.