Gerard Drive, regarded as one of the more environmentally sensitive areas in East Hampton Town, jutting out as it does into Gardiner’s Bay and protecting Accabonac Harbor, has only one pool along its 1.4-mile length. Soon there will be another.
At its Jan. 14 meeting, the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals approved a pool, additions that would add a second story and more than double the size of an existing house, and a natural resources special permit for the property at 101 Gerard Drive.
The decision was not unanimous. Ed Johann, a Z.B.A. member, voted against the pool portion of the application, and Roy Dalene, the board chairman, recused himself. The application was the subject of a public hearing on Oct. 22. A neighbor, Diane Franey, argued that the parcel floods during intense northeasters, and worried that the addition of a second story would impact the character of the neighborhood.
The house sits in a number of protected areas: the harbor protection overlay district, both the Accabonac Harbor and the Peconic Estuary critical environmental areas, and it has been designated an important bird area by the Nature Conservancy.
As mitigation, the homeowner will add over 10,000 square feet of vegetation, and add a new I/A septic system.
