Three Exemptions to Moratorium Granted
 Morgan McGivern |
(1/10/2008) Although there is a moratorium in Sag Harbor on projects that require approval from the village planning board, the board granted three exemptions to that moratorium at a meeting last Thursday. Each approval was granted based on the hardship created with the moratorium in place.
One of the waivers, and the subsequent site plan approval, will allow for Jim Smyth to build a second story on the Main Street building that houses the Corner Bar.
Mr. Smyth sought an exemption to the moratorium so that he could move forward with longtime plans to relocate an office, mechanical equipment, and storage space from the basement, as it sits below the flood-plain elevation set forth by the Federal Emergency Management Association.
Miles Anderson, a Sag Harbor attorney who represented Mr. Smyth’s corporation, Snuffy’s Realty, said, “In the event of a flood, it will certainly minimize the owner’s expense,” if the basement were not in use. The confined space is also “massively inconvenient,” Mr. Anderson told the board, noting that his client has been gathering money for the project since 1985.
By phone on Tuesday, Jim Laspesa, the Sag Harbor architect who is working on the design, said that water is seeping into the basement and the sump pump is continually used.
“It’s dark and damp down there,” he said. With only five-foot ceilings, “Jim sits on a chair and has two feet above his head,” Mr. Laspesa said.
The Sag Harbor Village Board instituted the moratorium in June, and then extended it another six months in December, in order to finalize code revisions it has been working on for about a year.
Specifically, the moratorium is in place so that the board can make its code stronger in anticipation of large chain stores, like a CVS drugstore, attempting to set up shop in the village. Some real estate agents and business owners, however, have been worried it would penalize the small business owners and building owners in the meantime.
Mr. Anderson told the board that upholding the moratorium could adversely affect Mr. Smyth in the event of a flood. Noting the criteria for an exemption, Mr. Anderson said that adding a second floor would be in keeping with the harmony and character of the village.
Most of the neighboring buildings are at least two stories; the Suffolk County National Bank building is three stories, as is Patrick Malloy’s brick building on Bay Street.
The second story will take the building from 15 feet tall to 31 feet at its highest point, Mr. Laspesa said. The 902-square-foot addition does not cover the entire footage of the existing 1,476 square feet. The architect said Mr. Smyth was careful to construct an addition that “isn’t so ominous.” A deck, used for an herb garden, may make up for the difference in space.
A rendition of the design was not immediately available, as the architect said he is still drawing it. The architectural review board will have a chance to review the design before a building permit is issued.
As part of the board’s decision, Mr. Smyth agreed that the addition wouldn’t bring any change of density in seating to the restaurant and bar. Instead, glasses, beer, and refrigerated items will be stored in the second-story addition. “In other words,” Mr. Anderson told the board, “he’d go up to get his goods instead of going down.”
Donald Zucker, who owns the adjacent buildings, did not oppose the addition, according to Dennis Downes, his attorney, who was at the meeting seeking an exemption from the moratorium for another client.
Xavier Merat, a hair stylist who runs the Xavier Merat Salon in the Shopping Cove off of Main Street, was also granted an exemption and site plan approval so that he could move his business into Mr. Malloy’s building on Bay Street.
Flashbacks, a home furnishings store, is vacating the first-floor space. Since Mr. Merat wants to convert the 1,950-square-foot space from retail to a personal service shop and retail store, he needs site plan approval.
Mr. Downes said there will be no change to the exterior of the building, except for a new sign, which also needs approval from the architectural review board. The change of use also does not affect the parking, which is provided in a lot on the east side of the building before Marine Park.
In asking the board for the exemption, Mr. Downes said the moratorium creates a hardship on the building’s owner as the building does not lend itself well to retail trade since there are no display windows. He also said Mr. Merat has had a difficult time finding space for his salon. “He’d been looking for over six months,” he added.
Through another exemption to the moratorium, Hal Zwick received site plan approval to convert the second floor of his Main Street building from retail to office space. The space above Paradise Restaurant has sat vacant since Labor Day, when a gallery broke its lease after having difficulty running a business from the second floor.
According to Brian Matthews of the law firm MacLachlan and Eagan in East Hampton, his client lost a potential tenant because the moratorium was in place.
“The second floor is simply not conducive to a viable retail shop,” Mr. Matthews said. Office space is “more logical and pragmatic.”
Members of the planning board, who are aware that the village board’s pending code revisions include converting second floor space into apartments where possible, wanted to know if Mr. Zwick had considered putting apartments there.
Mr. Zwick said it would cost him over $100,000 to convert the space to apartments, whereas it would cost him only a few thousand dollars to put up a wall and make two offices.
When Mr. Zwick bought the building eight years ago, there were two apartments on the second floor, and he sought a change of use variance to make it a retail space.
“From a financial point of view, Mr. Zwick, do you regret that decision?” asked Neil Slevin, a planning board member. Without giving an answer, Mr. Zwick told the board he has had two offers to buy the building, and with site plan approval he could have the office rented by March 1.