Perhaps “Angry Hall” would be a more appropriate name.
Last week, for the third time since July, the owners of Rowdy Hall, the popular East Hampton bar and restaurant that is relocating to Amagansett, attempted to win approval from the East Hampton Town Architectural Review Board to bring its signature look to Amagansett Main Street. It did not go well.
Rowdy Hall’s owners want to paint the exterior of the Main Street building black, like the exterior of the village spot they have run for 27 years. The plans fall under the purview of the A.R.B. for two reasons: They involve changes to the facade of a commercial building, and the property is in a historic district.
In late August, the board indicated that black would not be acceptable in the historic district. Last Thursday, it reviewed a new submission, which included Rowdy’s characteristic black sign with gold lettering above a gray building with black doors.
“This is the third submission, and we are cognizant and appreciative off all the time, energy, and resources that you have gone through to make this presentation,” Kathleen Cunningham, the board’s chairwoman, said at the beginning of the meeting. “I would like to recommend that we approve this,” she said. “We look forward to the day you open your doors there.”
The big plot twist was that Mark Smith, a partner in the Honest Man restaurant group, which also owns Nick and Toni’s, Coche Comedor, Townline BBQ, and La Fondita, wanted nothing to do with the gray building.
He said the group had only made the most recent submission out of respect for the board, not because they liked it. He referenced a letter he had written in which he clearly stated the gray building was his last preference. “I don’t even know if that was considered.”
Ms. Cunningham said the board had considered it but found that the gray was a better fit for the village and “not quite so pronounced a contrast to the other buildings in the community.”
Mr. Smith was perturbed that the board had the “right to tell me what I can and cannot do,” while nearby homeowners could paint their houses whatever color they wished. The code, he said, was very subjective. Churches and houses in the historic district are not restricted to certain paint colors.
David McMaster, the attorney for the A.R.B., told Mr. Smith that the guidelines were different for residential and commercial buildings.
“I like the black,” offered Ms. Cunningham, “But we’re not allowed to put what we like. We have to follow these rules.”
“What rules? Organic Krush has orange lettering and a blue, white, and orange awning!” said Mr. Smith. “Where in the town code does it say you can only use these colors?” (In his letter to the board, he said the owners were advised to use “Benjamin Moore historical colors” but “we have yet to find where that is written in the code.”)
Town code offers “Amagansett historic district guidelines,” which state: “Colors of historic buildings should be appropriate to their period and style,” and that “Natural-shingle siding or siding painted white along with white trim are appropriate finishes,” and that “Other colors used should harmonize with the colors of the historic district buildings and with the setting of the historic district.”
“You said you like the gray and black, presumably because you feel they’re in harmony with the historic district,” said Jon Tarbet, a lawyer who spoke for Rowdy Hall at the meeting. “Can you explain why black for the exterior paint color is not in harmony, but gray is? We submitted a bunch of different colors for the board because you asked us to. We’re not asking for those colors. We’re asking for the black.”
“What are we discussing?” asked Frank Guittard, a board member. “Are you applying for approval of what you presented or not?”
It became clear that Rowdy was asking the board to either vote up or down on the black building and to forget the gray rendering altogether.
“That’s not how this works,” said Mr. McMaster. “This is the most recent submission. If there were no new submissions, you wouldn’t have been put back on the agenda.”
“You can deny me the vote, that’s fine,” said Mr. Tarbet, “but the request is a vote on the black building.”
“That’s not what the submission was and it’s disingenuous,” said Mr. McMaster. “We’re not going to vote on it, we’re going to table it.”
“That is the most ridiculous conclusion,” said Mr. Tarbet. “The town is paying you for that?”
Ms. Cunningham expressed confusion that Rowdy would come back to the board with a submission the owners clearly never intended to carry out.
“If the whole point of this exercise was to come before us to present this, bring everybody here to present something to us that you don’t want, and say you’re going to withdraw, you just wasted everybody’s time,” said Mr. Guittard.
“I don’t look at it that way,” said Mr. Smith. “We hoped you’d see this rendering, go through all three, and then choose the black and gold.” In fact, in Mr. Smith’s letter, dated Sept. 11, he wrote, “While we submit this latest rendition for you to review, we are in no way disregarding our desire to see our prior submissions also be considered.”
“That was the hope, I understand that,” said Ms. Cunningham. “But that’s not what happened.”
“You think you can approve something the applicant says they don’t want?” asked Mr. Tarbet.
Mr. McMaster suggested Rowdy Hall withdraw the most recent submission and come back with one that its owners wanted. The board would then vote on the new submission. Mr. Tarbet was miffed, considering that a request for the all-black building was already submitted. “That’s a waste of everyone’s time,” he said.
The board chose unanimously to approve the sign, leaving the exterior paint color for another day.
In a phone call Tuesday morning, Mr. Tarbet said, “We definitely plan to do an Article 78 if they vote it down.” He said the code was too vague and the standards were unclear. “The nail salon that was up just before us has a giant green sign in cursive. Do the guidelines require muted colors?” In addition, he said that Rowdy Hall was requesting that Mr. McMaster be recused from the application. “He provided a bizarre legal opinion that the board could refuse to vote on the applicant’s request, and instead approve the application with the color of their choice.”
Mr. McMaster could not be reached on Tuesday for comment.
