The East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals was busy making up for lost time at its December meeting Friday, its November session having been canceled. Its first discussion peripherally involved 64 West End Road, owned by Harry Macklowe.
Back in early 2019, Mr. Macklowe, a real estate developer just over a divorce, erected a huge billboard of himself and his new wife on a Park Avenue building he owns. At about the same time, the village issued a stop-work order on his property here, which fronts on Georgica Pond, after building inspectors reported several illegal improvements and illegal clearing on the lot.
Months later, Mr. Macklowe asked the Z.B.A. for retroactive approval. The board said no, and he sued. This past April, the State Supreme Court supported the Z.B.A. denial, and, in the same ruling, asked the board to clarify the legality of other questionable improvements on the Macklowe property. Those questions are scheduled for Z.B.A. discussion next month.
Last week, Linda Margolin, a lawyer representing Mr. Macklowe, submitted a letter to the Z.B.A. requesting that a board member, Joe Rose, recuse himself from next month’s discussion. “While we believe Mr. Rose is aware of the reasons for seeking his recusal, should he be unwilling to recuse himself or wish us to detail the reason for seeking his recusal, we are prepared to supply the relevant information in a follow-up letter,” she wrote.
Mr. Rose was not willing to recuse himself, and he took a moment on Friday to respond to the “unusual statement” from Ms. Margolin. He said he had no connection to Mr. Macklowe, wasn’t aware of any conflict, and that if there were any “legitimate reason” for recusal, he’d be the first to bring it to the attention of the board. “I will not be discouraged,” he said.
A $300,000 phragmites-removal project at 94 Apaquogue Road, also bordering Georgica Pond, is in jeopardy if the Z.B.A. orders the removal of a temporary deer fence erected along the shoreline, said Kelly Risotto, an environmental consultant representing David Gallo, the homeowner. Mr. Gallo needs a variance if the fence is to stay, as it is within 150 feet of wetlands.
“It’s over an 80-percent ask for a variance,” said Phil O’Connell, a board member. He suggested that the fence be placed landward of a “no-mow zone,” closer to the house.
Billy Hajek, the village planner, told the board that while phragmites removal is appreciated, phragmites do serve as a buffer. “The removal of them without a buffer is a bigger problem than leaving them alone,” he said. The problem is that if Mr. Gallo moves the fence, he believes his buffer will be eaten. “It’s definitely going to be a precedent-setting act,” said Mr. Hajek, and could push deer onto that property and others.
James McMullan, vice chairman of the Z.B.A., indicated he liked a compromise offered by the homeowner. A six-foot fence, angled at 45 degrees, would be placed in the buffer zone, “just inside the buffer line, on the property side,” rendering it invisible to all.
Andrew Baris and Abigail Fitzsimmons, board members, found that proposal acceptable, and the hearing was left open, for written submissions only.
Eric Ellenbogen’s steel-container house at 13 Egypt Lane was essentially built in a swamp, said Robert Strada of Strada Baxter Design/Build, L.L.C., the project’s general contractor.
“We drove 25 piles into the earth to support the foundation, which became a massive bathtub so that nothing would penetrate it,” he said.
It sits on the same parcel as the Hiram Sanford House, which was built in 1822 and is one of the village’s approximately 70 historic timber-frame structures. The owners of such buildings are by law allowed to build a second structure on the property in exchange for not touching the first.
In this case, however, the new house turned out to be a few inches over the side-yard setback line. “We were essentially stunned to see that we weren’t conforming,” Mr. Strada told the Z.B.A.
Members were understanding, and approved a variance of a few inches. No neighbors opposed, and the hearing was closed.
An application at 55 La Forest Lane, an 1890 house known as Wildmoor that was once a childhood home of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, was more complicated. In April, new owners were denied a building permit to add living space to a third floor, which is not allowed. Britton Bistrian, speaking for the owners, argued that the house pre-dates zoning, that the third story is legal, and that fire sprinklers have been installed in the space, so that it now conforms with safety standards. Granting the owners use of the space would allow them to have three additional windows in their bedroom, with no impact to the neighborhood, she said.
Jeff Bragman, representing neighbors at 82 Apaquogue Road, disagreed. He recapped the timeline of the house’s years-long $4.2 million renovation, noting that the architect had been told at the start that the habitable space on the third story couldn’t be expanded. “This was not an error or omission,” said Mr. Bragman. “This was something else.”
Even the owners’ request for a variance, he claimed, fudged the numbers, originally asking for only 53 square feet of space and now seeking to legalize over 200 square feet. “It’s an entire bedroom that they were on notice about since the beginning, but they built it anyway.”
The problem for the neighbors, he said, is the dormers, which can be seen from his client’s upstairs bathroom and pool area. Mr. Bragman suggested a compromise: Tear down the dormers, and there will be no objection to the third floor’s extended living space.
Ms. Bistrian protested that the dormers were permitted, and suggested that Mr. Bragman’s clients should be happy that the entire house wasn’t torn down and rebuilt. But, she said, the owners would consider putting in some trees. “We’re certainly not removing dormers that were permitted,” she said.
The hearing remains open.
Finally, the Huntting Inn again requested an adjournment of its proposal for an on-site pool, in order to “finalize revised project plans.”
