Not in the Amagansett Historic District.
That was the clear message sent by the East Hampton Town Planning Board to the owner and lessee of the Amagansett Mobil station, who are looking to add a Bolla convenience store and Tim Horton's coffee and takeout shop to the site.
"I cannot stress it strongly enough that in my view this project, as proposed, is the antithesis of good planning," Louis Cortese, a planning board member, said at the board's Feb. 26 meeting. "It's more suited to be placed on the side of the Long Island Expressway at a truck stop than to be at the forefront of the historic district of this quaint bucolic section of Main Street in Amagansett."
While Mr. Cortese is known for his strong stances, the usually reserved planning board fully agreed with him.
The property's owner, Blue Hill Fuels, and its lessee, Bolla EM Realty, were in front of the board for a preliminary discussion about the plans. Tim Horton's is a multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain with over 5,000 locations around the world. Tim Horton's is big in Canada. Coffee is its main thing, but it also sells donuts, baked items and breakfast. Bolla Market is itself a chain with over 200 locations in the New York metropolitan area. The plans involve redeveloping the service station and replacing the garage and small shop with a new 2,376-square-foot building that would be home to the Bolla convenience store and the Tim Horton's shop.
Job Potter, a former chairman of the planning board, "once said to me, 'Unless it's wintertime you wouldn't know if you're in Madison Wisconsin or Madison, Georgia,' " said Reed Jones, another planning board member. "I mean, everything in America is kind of becoming, you know everything's the same. We've got something really special here and I think we really need to keep it special and protected. I think that this is an overreach."
If the idea of a quick service franchise at the gateway to the Amagansett Historic District alone was not enough to put the board off, there were also plenty of town code-based reasons for the board to criticize the application.
For example, Bolla and Tim Horton's are both considered "formula businesses," and in East Hampton Town, only one formula business is allowed per lot. Because three uses are proposed on the single parcel (the filling station counts as third use), the owner could apply for a special permit to run a "multiple business complex." Even before that complexity, however, the town code definition of "filling station" states "no convenience establishment or other retail store can be located on the same parcel as a filling station." So, if the owner insisted on trying to put all three uses onto the one parcel, the project would need a use variance from the zoning board of appeals.
Alternately, the owner could try to subdivide the parcel, however, Christopher Stoecker, a town planner, told the board, "It is not likely that two conforming lots can be created." So, there were many knots to untie.
One of the largest was a proposed 21-foot-tall, nearly 2,000-square-foot canopy (considered an accessory structure) that would protect the gas pumps. If the height and appearance were not already going to be problematic for the architectural review board (would would ultimately need to approve), Bolla wanted to place it within three feet of the road, triggering the need for another variance from the Z.B.A.
The canopy and 14 proposed parking spots also helped push the project out of compliance with the town's 80-percent maximum total lot coverage rule. A lawyer speaking for Bolla, Matthew Ingber, contended that the owner takes pride in landscaping. However, with that much of the lot covered by asphalt and structures, there would not be much land left to scape. Further, the Planning Department identified a non-native columnar sweet gum tree listed on the landscaping plan that had "invasive roots and fruit."
Across Indian Wells Highway from the filling station is St. Thomas Episcopal Church, and adjacent to it is the Nicholl's Livery Stable. "The board should consider the impact on specific existing uses," said Mr. Stoecker, and discuss whether the proposed use "is compatible with its surroundings, particularly regarding visibility, scale, and overall appearance." He suggested that a traffic study should be required. "The proposal includes adding two new uses, which are both traffic generators, to an already congested area of the town."
"The traffic implications are kind of mind-boggling," said Jennifer Fowkes, the board's vice chairwoman.
Then there were the environmental implications of the existing gas station.
When Nick Buscemi of High Point Engineering, speaking for the applicant, said soil testing was under the jurisdiction of the county and not the town, Tina Vavilis LaGarenne, East Hampton's planning director, countered his assertion.
"The board absolutely does have the authority and the obligation to review whether or not on-site contamination may be a concern," she said, "and to understand whether the proposed testing, soil removal, and disposal handling practices are in accordance with appropriate environmental guidelines."
"To have this as the entrance to Amagansett hamlet is a nonstarter," said Ms. Fowkes, adding, "I don't think that there's any hardship proving that you need the change of use. It's a very successful filling station." (To receive a use variance, Bolla would need to prove financial hardship.)
"Every application that we receive deserves a fair shake," said Ed Krug, the board's chairman. "But this is so inconsistent with our code. There's just one challenge after another after another. Any way you want to go with this is going to require a complicated set of variances. I am certain that there is going to be a lot of discussion in the neighborhood about this as well."
Indeed, opposition was already obvious.
Victor Gelb, the co-president of the Amagansett Village Improvement Society, stood up to speak, even though it wasn't a public hearing. "I would just like to point out to the board that at a preliminary meeting you have representatives of both the citizens advisory committee and the AVIS to express our vision that this is not an appropriate project. I thank you very much for seeming to agree with us."
