Some Are Still Simmering Over Surf Lodge
(02/05/2009) It may be boarded up for the winter, but the Surf Lodge is still alive in the minds of many Montauk residents, some of whom want
 Janis Hewitt
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East Hampton Town to revoke a building permit they say was issued in error.
The Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee on Monday agreed to back up another group, the Concerned Citizens of Montauk, in asking the town board to “consult with the office of the town attorney to determine whether the building permit issued for the 3,062-square-foot wooden deck” was a mistake.
The two groups also want the town to require the Surf Lodge’s owners to apply for site plan approval and a natural resources permit if the building permit was issued in error.
At Monday’s advisory committee meeting, Richard Kahn, a retired lawyer, committee member, and member of the Concerned Citizens, handed out a document outlining the case against the Building Department. He said that attorneys he consulted “unanimously” agreed that the chief building inspector, Don Sharkey, should not have issued the permit.
“He’s made a mistake,” Mr. Kahn said. “He won’t admit that, but he has to be accountable to someone. He should be accountable to the town.”
“I wouldn’t have issued it if it was an error,” Mr. Sharkey said on Tuesday. He said that the building permit was granted two years before the present owners bought the Surf Lodge, which was called the Lakeside Inn on Fort Pond under its previous owner, Jim Barnds.
“It only became a problem when the parking got out of hand and the crowds came” in its new incarnation, the building inspector said, adding that no one from either civic group had questioned him directly about the permit.
“They won’t come to me because they don’t want to hear the truth,” he said.
Mr. Kahn said the Surf Lodge was cited several times last year, including for opening a hair salon and retail shop without planning board approval. “Naturally, the case has been adjourned numerous times,” he said, adding that he believes a court proceeding that is expected to be settled on March 2 will stipulate that the stores have to be closed.
“But that’s like a mosquito on the back of an elephant,” Mr. Kahn said, adding that the “huge expansion” should not have been allowed without environmental review, especially since the lodge is on Fort Pond.
The Concerned Citizens have a number of complaints about the Surf Lodge, Mr. Kahn said. Number one is the septic system. He said that in 2003 a sewage system was put in without approval from the County Health Department, resulting in a citation from that department.
In addition, Mr. Kahn said, the State Department of Environmental Conservation determined that the leaching pools endanger the health of Fort Pond and its environment. Those problems have not been corrected, Mr. Kahn said.
The restaurant and motel are pre-existing nonconforming uses in a residential zone. In 2007 the owners replaced a pool and patio with a wooden deck with outdoor seating for bar and restaurant patrons.
The town code prohibits the expansion of a nonconforming use without a variance. Since the restaurant is on Fort Pond, Mr. Kahn said, the deck should have also required a natural resources permit, which was not obtained or even applied for, he said.
The County Health Department permit limits the restaurant’s capacity to 68 persons, Mr. Kahn said, while, in an interview with The New York Times last summer, the chef claimed to have produced over 600 dinners in one night.
“If they’re only allowed 68 seats, that’s some turnover,” he said.
Mr. Kahn asked Pete Hammerle, who takes the committee’s recommendations back to the town board, if the board has the right to challenge the building inspector.
“I’ll meet with a town attorney and find out,” Mr. Hammerle said.