The Springs General Store achieved a victory at the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals last week, being granted its request for a natural resources special permit (the project requires no variances). The permit was needed because parking, fencing, and decking would be installed within 150 feet of wetlands.
Don’t expect them to start churning out coffee and egg sandwiches just yet, however. The store still needs site plan approval from the town’s planning and architectural review boards.
Still, a couple of years into the process, despite two summer seasons lost, things are finally looking up. The owners seek to renovate the venerable building, built in 1844 and part of the Springs Historic District, while removing its kayak rental business and replacing it with wine sales for off-premises consumption, out of a converted storage shed.
The business has proposed an extensive revegetation plan, which includes removing invasive species and replacing them with natives. It has also offered to remove an old-school septic system and replace it with a new low-nitrogen variety, which would benefit Accabonac Harbor, on which the property has over 200 feet of frontage.
Along the way, there have been issues with upgrading the porch, facade, and parking area to become A.D.A compliant. Also, a pipe burst in the winter of 2022, necessitating a far more extensive interior renovation than expected, including the replacement of the foundation.
Daniel Bennett, a co-owner of the business, breezed through a meeting with a supportive architectural board in May, and a public hearing held by the zoning board in July, specifically on the natural resources special permit, didn’t leave a mark. Only three members of the public commented. Two were outright supportive, and while a third, Scott Gilbert, had questions, he acknowledged the importance of the store for the neighborhood and wanted to see it open and successful.
“Access to Accabonac Harbor will be restricted by this project,” said Mr. Gilbert, “and the issue of whether to place a store that sells alcohol a block from the school is something that needs comment.” However, those were issues that would be addressed in a future hearing in front of the planning board.
Lisa Liquori, a consultant to the Planning Department, touched on the access issue at the July hearing and did not seem to think it was a problem. On the contrary, she suggested narrowing footpaths that are within 50 feet of the water to limit trampling. Mr. Bennett protested that “the whole impetus” of the planting plan was to open views to the harbor. The shore behind his store is “one of the only views of the harbor unspoiled by houses — there are seabirds everywhere,” he said. “It’s incredible.”
As far as the Z.B.A. was concerned, removing five accessory structures that were less than 100 feet from the harbor was a boon, and directly related to the granting of the natural resources application, which regulates structures within 150 feet of wetlands. While one large tree will be removed from the site, it is in service of the new septic system. Roughly a quarter-acre of lawn will be replanted with native plants.
“The revegetation was really the key component for me in approving this application,” said Denise Savarese, zoning board vice chairwoman, at last week’s meeting. Any concerns she had were addressed by the applicants in July, she said. “I think this property is more environmentally protected now than it has been in the past.”
Ed Johann, a Z.B.A. member, agreed. The Springs General Store is in one of the most sensitive sites in town, he said, considering that it abuts a wetland and is in the center of a historic district. Nonetheless, the application was so strong that it deserved the permit it was seeking. “It’s a net positive to that location,” he said.
“I’m willing to approve it,” echoed Roy Dalene, the chairman of the board, also citing what he would not do, which was to compel the Building Department to grant the applicant a building permit based on Z.B.A. approval, before the A.R.B. and the planning board approve. “I don’t know how we can make that a legal aspect of our determination,” he commented in July.
Similarly, he said the Z.B.A. could not, with last week’s approval, compel the town board to act on a septic grant recommended by its water quality technical advisory committee. John Bennett, Daniel Bennett’s father and attorney, had requested they be linked — one conditioned on the other. Z.B.A. members seemed confident the grant would ultimately be awarded, while acknowledging it was outside their jurisdiction.
“We’re dying to get going. It’s hard not having the revenue there,” said John Bennett. Springs residents, facing a third summer without their go-to store, likely feel the same way.
