Skip to main content

East Hampton Chabad Draws Objections

East Hampton Chabad Draws Objections

By
Christopher Walsh

    An ongoing effort to resolve outstanding building permit issues and bring aspects of the Chabad House on Woods Lane into compliance with village code, brought representatives of the orthodox synagogue, and some unhappy neighbors, to the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals on Friday.

    The property includes a single-family residence being used by Chabad Lubavitch of the Hamptons for worship services, a second house occasionally used by guests, and a two-story structure originally used as a garage and now housing a ritual immersion bath, known as a mikvah, a room for introspection and study, two bathrooms, and an unfinished storage space.

    The Chabad House’s application for area variances and a special permit to allow the buildings at 13 Woods Lane to be classified as a religious institution drew protests from two neighbors.

    While in the process of refinancing, Chabad applied for certificates of occupancy and discovered a prior zoning board determination that limited the garage to storage use only, said Leonard Ackerman, an attorney representing the organization. “That’s what brings us here.”

    Under orthodox religious law, Mr. Ackerman said, “you cannot have a temple — a shul — without having a mikvah. That’s why the mikvah was installed. . . . We’re here for a special permit because it’s a nonresidential use.”

    Mr. Ackerman asked the board to consider the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a law enacted in 2000 that grants religious institutions a means to avoid burdensome zoning law restrictions. He asserted that there is no evidence of adverse impact on adjacent residences, the business district, or on the nearby Jewish Center of the Hamptons. “It’s the same house, same structure. We’re not changing anything, we’re not adding anything. The house is the same as it’s been for 70 years.”

    This assertion clashed with that of Jennifer Sibony, who lives at 8 Ocean Avenue. “I live next to the mikvah, which is one foot away from my property line,” she told the board. “As soon as the mikvah was built, we complained to Rabbi [Leibel] Baumgarten that the pool pump in the back made so much noise that our son couldn’t even sleep in his bedroom, because it went constantly, 24 hours a day. We asked them to enclose it, and to put a fence up.”

    Ms. Sibony said that after numerous requests, Rabbi Baumgarten installed a fence, but the noise issue remained. “I would ask that there is a fence put up around that, maybe with insulation on the inside. We’ve also asked for a fence between the mikvah and the end of our property line, so we don’t see people walking back and forth, strangers, all the time.”

    The pool filter is uncovered, said Frank Newbold, a Z.B.A. member. “To get the [certificate of occupancy], it necessarily will be covered,” he told Ms. Sibony, before informing Mr. Ackerman that landscaping that will satisfy the neighbor’s privacy and noise concerns will be required in order for the application to be granted.

    “We’re going to work together,” Mr. Ackerman told Ms. Sibony.

    Robert Petrozzo, who lives across from the Chabad on Woods Lane, complained about the many cars parked on the road, which he said sometimes overflow to the other side of the street, in front of his house and those of his neighbors. This, he said, makes it difficult to get in and out of his driveway. “If this is going to be opened up to official religious establishment, there will be more people coming,” he said. “It’s a safety issue, and also, aesthetically, it looks horrible. . . . My concern is that on any given Friday or Saturday you can drive by 13 Woods Lane and there are a number of cars on the road.”

    If the special permit is granted, Mr. Newbold wondered, is the use going to change dramatically?

    “Maybe not practically speaking,” said Linda Riley, the village attorney. “But what it is now is a one-family residence. By granting this special permit, you’ll be granting a permit for the entire property to be used as a synagogue. The only permitted use on this property at this time is a one-family residence.”

    Mr. Ackerman told the board that he will follow up with the neighbors to address their concerns, and the hearing was closed.

    Also at the meeting, the board approved Lumber Lane Associates’ application to build affordable apartments on the second floor of a commercial building on Lumber Lane. The request, by Pat Trunzo, a contractor and co-owner of the building, had prompted the village board to adopt a code amendment eliminating a requirement that anyone who cannot provide mandated off-street parking pay a $10,000-per-space fee to the village’s parking fund, provided the property owners are creating affordable housing.

    The approval is conditional. Lumber Lane Associates must record a declaration of covenants and restrictions stating that the apartments will remain as affordable rental units in perpetuity and that the warehouse space in the building not be converted to any use without the board’s approval. The owner will also have to install landscaping approved by the village’s design review board.

Holy Week Services

Holy Week Services

By
Star Staff

East Hampton

    The Methodist Church has scheduled a prayer walk to begin at 5 p.m. tomorrow in the sanctuary, with seven prayer stations. Visitors can come for as long or as short as they like, but silence has been requested. Easter Sunrise will be observed at 6:30 a.m. at Main Beach in a joint service with the East Hampton Presbyterian Church. Breakfast will be served at the church at 7:15 a.m. Morning worship will be at 10; an egg hunt for children will follow.

    Most Holy Trinity will hold a bilingual Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 8 p.m. today. Tomorrow’s Good Friday observances include prayer at 9 a.m., Stations of the Cross in the church cemetery on Cedar Street at noon, and a 3 p.m. Celebration of the Lord’s Passion in English and one at 8 p.m. in Spanish. On Saturday there will be 8 a.m. prayer and blessing of the food, confession at 10 a.m., and an Easter vigil at 7 p.m. in English and at 9 p.m. in Spanish. Sunday’s Masses are at 9:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. and at 7 p.m. in Spanish.

    An all-night prayer vigil begins at 8 tonight at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Morning prayer tomorrow is at 8, and a Service of the Passion is at noon and 7 p.m. Stations of the Cross is at 3 p.m. A Great Vigil of Easter service will be held at 8 p.m. on Saturday. Easter Sunday Holy Communion is at 8 a.m. and a choral Holy Eucharist is at 10 a.m.

    Maundy Thursday will be celebrated with a 7 p.m. service at the Presbyterian Church. The Good Friday service tomorrow evening is at 7. On Easter, the congregation joins that of the Methodist Church at Main Beach at 6:30 a.m. There will be a Celebration of the Resurrection at 10 a.m., followed by an egg hunt on the lawn.

Amagansett

    Maundy Thursday services will take place today from 5 to 7 p.m. at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, with a potluck meal, foot washing, communion, and stripping of the altar. Tomorrow, a Good Friday service begins at 5 p.m. The Easter Sunday service is at 11 a.m.

    Easter Sunday Mass will be celebrated at St. Peter the Apostle Church at 9 a.m.

    At the Amagansett Presbyterian Church, a Maundy Thursday service happens tonight at 7 and will include serving of communion and the washing of feet rite. On Good Friday, a service will be held at 7 p.m. On Easter Sunday the congregation will have a sunrise service at Atlantic Avenue Beach and an 11 a.m. service at the church. This will be followed by an Easter egg hunt for children, to which all have been invited.

Sag Harbor

    The Old Whalers Church will commence Holy Week services tonight, Maundy Thursday, at 7:30 with a communion service in the chapel. Tomorrow, Good Friday worship and meditation will take place there at noon, and a service with readings and music by Sue Vinski, a guest soloist, will be at 7:30 p.m.

    Easter Sunday offerings will begin at 6:30 with a sunrise service at Marine Park. In the event of inclement weather, the service will be held at the church. At 7, it’s a continental breakfast in the church’s social hall, and then a 10 a.m. festive worship with music, including the church’s choir, bell choir, organ, and brass.

    St. Andrew’s Catholic Church will offer Holy Thursday prayer this morning at 9, and then a Mass of the Lord’s Supper and procession tonight at 7:30. Tomorrow at 9 a.m. will be Good Friday morning prayer, and a Liturgy of the Passion and Death of Christ will be at 3 p.m.

    Morning prayer on Holy Saturday will commence at 9, and the Great Easter Vigil will take place at 7:30 p.m. Easter Sunday will be celebrated with morning Masses at 8:30, 10, and 11:30.

    The Christ Episcopal Church will celebrate Maundy Thursday with a Seder supper today from 6 to 8. Good Friday Stations of the Cross observances will be offered at noon and 7 p.m. tomorrow, with the latter including a Eucharist service. On Easter Sunday, a quiet 8 a.m. service will be said, with 10 a.m. worship to include music from the choir and the option for attendees to bring a flower from their centerpiece to add to the creation of a community cross.

    All have been welcomed to attend a Good Friday service at the Community Bible Church at 7 p.m. tomorrow and an Easter Sunday service at 10 a.m. The church is at 2837 Noyac Road.

    A nondenominational service will take place at the North Sea Community House on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at which New Thought themes will be explored and celebrated. The congregation meets the last Sunday of each month for discussion, with this month’s topic to be that of faith. Visitors are welcomed, and more information can be found at godasme.com

Dreaming of a Beer Garden

Dreaming of a Beer Garden

Page at 63 Main’s take-out area has been gutted for renovation, and an outdoor seating area is proposed for those who wish to take their food or drink outside.
Page at 63 Main’s take-out area has been gutted for renovation, and an outdoor seating area is proposed for those who wish to take their food or drink outside.
Carrie Ann Salvi
By
Carrie Ann Salvi

    What started out on the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board’s agenda as a request by Gerard Wawryk, the owner of Page at 63 Main restaurant, to add seating behind his restaurant for those waiting for a table or takeout, transitioned into a request for a “beer garden,” as Neil Slevin, the board’s chairman, called it.

    The application, which was reviewed by Timothy Platt, the village building inspector, referred to a seasonal use of the outdoor area of the restaurant, with “no service proposed” there. But through questioning and discussion at the Tuesday night meeting, it was revealed that tables for those seeking a lobster roll or a draft beer were part of the application — bar patrons could step outside with their cocktails.

    The area in question is now a driveway that can be accessed from Division Street between Murf’s Backstreet Tavern and the village police headquarters. Mr. Wawryk seeks to renovate it with vegetation, tables, and chairs, in the process improving the aesthetics from the road, which he said is “coming alive.”

    Rich Warren, an environmental planning consultant, mentioned parking spaces that would be eliminated, asking that there be a good reason for doing so.

    Dennis Downes, the attorney representing Mr. Wawryk, answered that those spaces weren’t required. They’re used for deliveries to the restaurant, Mr. Wawryk said, and those drivers “will just use the street.”

    “I know in my heart that this is not something we should approve without public input,” Mr. Slevin said, “and I will insist on it.”

    “We need someone beyond this group to consider the implications,” he said, adding that he had no personal objections to the plan, and that some of his fondest memories involve beer gardens.

    “We have tables outside,” said Jack Tagliasacchi, a planning board member who owns Il Capuccino restaurant in the village. “To be able to serve alcohol, we have to send an application to the liquor authority.”

    Denise Schoen, the village attorney, confirmed this. “The liquor authority trumps local municipalities as to where and when you can serve liquor,” she said. “There is nothing in the code that prohibits it from happening.”

    “What is the difference between us doing it and Muse doing it on two sides?” Mr. Wawryk asked of another restaurant on Main Street. “Why do I have to go though a different routine when they just walked through?”

    Ms. Schoen said that Mr. Platt would make the determination regarding the application, which before the next meeting would be amended by Mr. Downes as to the elimination of parking spaces and whether the change would be an appropriate accessory use.

    East End Ventures was also on the agenda Tuesday, and if all goes as planned, after the next meeting the company will be set to complete the condominium complex at 21 West Water Street. The board required clarification on three items since the 2006 approval of the site plan: planting and irrigation, revised lighting to comply with dark skies standards, and an update to the lot coverage with regard to a gravel outdoor eating area that was eliminated.

    In other old business, Juan Castro believed his application for an accessory apartment on Brandywine Drive was complete, and so did the planning board, as it was approved on Nov. 27, but Ms. Schoen told the board that the building inspector strongly believed that a revision was necessary to prevent a future owner from using the house as a rental property. The words “owner occupied” will be added to the special exception application.

    “The intention of the [accessory apartments] law was to create affordable apartments . . . an attempt to allow families who have been here a long time to gain use of their homes, whether it be their children or neighbors’ children,” Mr. Slevin said.

    “Sag Harbor is unique in that it doesn’t require covenants,” said Ms. Schoen, adding that the additional wording will also help to ensure an owner’s caretaking of the property. “I will help him through the process,” she said in agreeing to draft the document.

Sag Harbor Police Force May Be Down to 10

Sag Harbor Police Force May Be Down to 10

Carrie Ann Salvi
Chief argues that further budget cuts would damage the department
By
Carrie Ann Salvi

    On March 19, the day before a meeting of the Sag Harbor Village Board to discuss the village’s budget, Police Chief Tom Fabiano said he had been “blindsided, once again” by Mayor Brian Gilbride’s proposal to lay off a full-time village police officer. “It destroys the schedule, it leaves us in a dangerous situation as to coverage, manpower,” he told The Star. “We lost one officer already,” he said, referring to Michael Gigante, who took a job with another force last year, fearing for the one he had.

    “Coming into the beginning of the summer season, there is no need for this,” said the chief.

    “I don’t like to be in this position,” the mayor said during the next day’s meeting, but “the numbers are the numbers.” He said the village had saved nothing by Mr. Gigante’s departure, although the chief disputes that.

    Public safety, the village’s largest expense, which includes police salaries, was cut 11.3 percent in the tentative budget, from $2.6 million in 2012-2013 to $2.3 million, a decrease of $295,704.

    With Mr. Gigante gone, Chief Fabiano said yesterday, the force is already down to 11. The 11th man, he said, fills in when others are on vacation, ill, or disabled. Having only 10 officers on the team, he said, would make that arrangement untenable.

    It is crucial, the chief said, to have two officers on per shift. “You can’t come into an empty headquarters off-hours with a prisoner and no backup.”

    Two weeks ago, for example, just outside the village on North Haven, Officer David Driscoll arrested a drunken driver who had his young child in the car. (Southampton Town police were too busy that night to respond to that report.) Soon after Officer Driscoll brought the driver to headquarters and as he awaited pickup of the child, another call came in. He could not have responded to it without a backup, he said last week.

    “If we kept an officer, how would that affect the budget?” asked Edward Gregory, a board member, at the March 20 meeting.

“We would probably go over the 2 percent cap,” responded Eileen Tuohy, the village treasurer.

    The police budget is “roughly 40 percent of the entire village budget,” said Mayor Gilbride. “It’s not so much what it’s costing us today, but the cost two, three, and four years down the road. . . . The last two years, with no increases in the police budget, the benefits, retirement, and medical has increased 21 percent.”

    “We’re allowed to go to 4.1 [percent.] “Right now, we are at 2.4,” the mayor said. “We can’t take any more out of it.”

    Adding to the difficulty is the lack of a current police contract, as Mayor Gilbride noted when Patrick Milazzo, the president of the Police Benevolent Association, asked the board to consider alternatives before letting an officer go. Robby Stein, a board member, agreed with the mayor. “We don’t know what the settlement numbers are,” he said.

    “The state said we need 13 officers,” said Mr. Milazzo, who asked that a committee be named — himself, Chief Fabiano, and a board member, he suggested — “to collaborate to see if we don’t have to remove a position.”

     “We have till June, we put a man on the moon, maybe we can make something happen,” Mr. Milazzo said. Neither Suffolk County nor East Hampton Town, even in dire financial straits, had ever let a police officer go, he added.

    “Nobody wants to see anybody lose his job,” said Mr. Gregory, but “we’re looking down the road . . . just because Suffolk County is stupid doesn’t mean we should be.” The mayor then told Mr. Milazzo his speaking time was up, as he is not a village taxpayer.

    Citing other concerns, such as Havens Beach remediation and dock repairs, Mr. Gilbride said, “Without any changes, this is where it’s going to be. We don’t have wiggle room.”

    Jeffrey Peters inquired about the addition of a part-time employee in the justice court, at a salary of $25,000.

    “The judge has requested a part-timer,” said Mayor Gilbride. “We brought the part-timer in.” He said the position, which Chief Fabiano said was usually staffed by the village police department, would be extended through the summer and into the off-season, adding that “the revenues from court offset that increase.”

    Mr. Peters also inquired about the elimination of a highway department position, originally budgeted at $36,000, which Mayor Gilbride confirmed. Mr. Peters congratulated the board for its efforts.

    Chief Fabiano, who was unable to attend the board meeting, submitted a letter asking that the village keep the 11th police officer’s job in the budget. “It is vital for the department’s staffing and scheduling needs,” he wrote. “There can be no dollar amount put on the value of safety, a life saved, and the quality of life we have all come to appreciate.”

    The general fund’s budget from early March showed $410,520 in expenditures for employee benefits, an 18.4 percent increase. In total, the general fund, which includes public safety, health services, transportation, culture and recreation, home and community service, and employee benefits, details a proposed 2.99 percent increase, from $5.8 million to $8.2 million.

    The sewer fund, which includes home and community services and is budgeted separately, has a projected increase of 3.44 percent, from $341,191 to $523,653.

    The tentative budget will be discussed, perhaps for the last time, at a public meeting on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Village Hall. 

Support Rallied for Elementary Principal

Support Rallied for Elementary Principal

By
Amanda M. Fairbanks

    Since Gina Kraus, the principal of the John M. Marshall Elementary School, gathered her staff last Tuesday to announce that she would not be granted tenure and that her role as an administrator would end in June, parents have mobilized in defense.

    At Tuesday night’s East Hampton School Board meeting, parents plan to turn out in large numbers so that their voices can be heard and their concerns aired publicly — even if the airing of those opinions has no bearing on the final outcome.

    Last Thursday, four John Marshall PTA board members sent out an e-mail to the school’s parents, informing them that Ms. Kraus had been denied tenure.

    “A group of concerned parents has formed and is organizing an effort to persuade Rich Burns that his recommendation to the board of education regarding Gina Kraus is not in the best interest of our children or our elementary school,” read the e-mail. “We, as parents, and as the J.M.M.E.S. PTA board, support these parents in their efforts and hope you too will involve yourself in making sure the most responsible decisions are made regarding the education and educational environment of your child/ren.”

    Beneath the PTA’s e-mail was an additional letter, signed by five John Marshall parents, Courtney Garneau, Liz Genovesi, Kate Dodge McCarty, Michelle Musnicki, and Wendy Geehreng Walters.

    “If you feel strongly about supporting Gina and ending the revolving door of administrators at John Marshall, and in our district in general, please make every effort to join the many who feel that an injustice is being done at our school,” read the second letter.

    It asked that parents consider attending Tuesday’s school board meeting, “which will be open for public comment (and may potentially be our final opportunity to voice our opposition).” Additionally, it asked that parents e-mail both Richard Burns, the district superintendent, and also the school board to signal their support of Ms. Kraus’s tenure.

    Since last week’s meeting, neither Mr. Burns nor Ms. Kraus has returned calls requesting a comment. 

    But while parents desire a public airing of their concerns, the decision to grant tenure to an administrator rests with the superintendent and the superintendent alone. According to a document related to principal tenure on the School Administrators Association of New York State’s Web site, the decision is not up to the board.

     “If the superintendent makes a negative recommendation on tenure, the board cannot vote to appoint the individual on tenure,” the document explains. It further noted that while the board cannot vote to grant tenure, it can decide to accept or reject a positive recommendation.

    The board president, George Aman, confirmed that any issues related to Ms. Kraus’s tenure will not appear on next week’s agenda — and that the board will not vote on it.

    Nevertheless, many parents still plan to speak out.

    “No matter what, people are going to go to the meeting. The superintendent needs to hear from us,” said Ms. Garneau, who spoke at last week’s meeting and whose three children attend John Marshall.

    Meanwhile, a separate dispute has arisen among parents who think the PTA should never have endorsed such a letter in the first place.

    One of the most outspoken opponents is Stacey Soloviev, the former John Marshall PTA president. She is also a member of the district’s committee on special education. She labeled the PTA’s endorsement as a “misuse of authority.”

    In an e-mail sent on Tuesday afternoon to the school’s PTA board members, Ms. Soloviev, who has five children at the elementary school, said that the board had overstepped its bounds and in so doing “marginalized the opinions of those parents who agree she should not get tenure, most likely making them even less likely to speak up.”

    She cited the New York State PTA’s guidelines related to lobbying and political activity, writing that “PTAs may not make statements (oral or written) supporting or opposing any candidate for public office.”

    Ms. Soloviev said that endorsing someone and lobbying for them at school board meetings and trying to sway the vote of public officials constitutes illegal activity. While Ms. Kraus is not a public official, she cautioned that members of the board of education are.

    “This decision has already been made, storming the board meetings with hostility with the intent to make the superintendent change his mind is bullying, the very thing we are trying to stop in our schools and community,” wrote Ms. Soloviev.

     “It’s wonderful that there’s all this positive stuff about Gina Kraus, who has done amazing things. But it’s not up to us if she gets tenure or not,” Ms. Soloviev said.

     “It has come to our attention that we misstepped,” Christy Cober, vice president of John Marshall’s PTA, said yesterday. “On behalf of the board, we apologize for that. We didn’t realize that forwarding on the e-mail from the group of parents was not within our purview, and had we known that, we wouldn’t have done it. . . . Our purpose is not to alienate anyone ever.”

    Meanwhile, the reason why Ms. Kraus was not granted tenure is still unknown, and may remain so.

     “For the life of me, I cannot figure it out,” said Chris Tracey, the former principal of John Marshall. During his tenure, Ms. Kraus served as assistant principal. “I have called and the calls have not been returned.” He described Ms. Kraus in glowing terms, calling her “one of the finest administrators I have ever worked with.”

    Ms. Garneau described the school and district as being on “lockdown, and no one’s talking.”

    Despite the political infighting, several parents interviewed see Tuesday’s meeting as an opportunity to finally air their grievances. Organizers have requested that the meeting be moved from its usual location in the district office to East Hampton High School’s auditorium to accommodate more people. Further, babysitting services may also be offered so that additional parents can attend.

     “At the end of next Tuesday, we want Gina to know that many parents appreciated her dedication and hard work,” said Ms. Geehreng Walters, who has two children at John Marshall. “This is not a matter of whether we support the superintendent or the board of education, but it’s about the appreciation of our principal.”

David Lys, a New Face on the Z.B.A.

David Lys, a New Face on the Z.B.A.

David Lys, the  newest member of the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals was handed documents by Jeffrey Bragman during his first public hearing. From left were Don Cirillo, Mr. Bragman, Alex Walter, the board’s chairman, Mr. Lys, and Bryan Gosman.
David Lys, the newest member of the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals was handed documents by Jeffrey Bragman during his first public hearing. From left were Don Cirillo, Mr. Bragman, Alex Walter, the board’s chairman, Mr. Lys, and Bryan Gosman.
T.E. McMorrow
By
T.E. McMorrow

    Sharon McCobb said goodbye and David Lys said hello at an East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals work session on March 12, Mr. Lys’s first as a member of the board.

    Mr. Lys, whose term will run through the end of 2017, replaces Ms. McCobb, leaving the board with no female members, but the two have some things in common. Both are personal trainers, both live in Springs, and Mr. Lys will be the board’s Springs representative, as Ms. McCobb was.

    Mr. Lys is best known for helping found Citizens for Access Rights, an organization dedicated to preventing the privatization of public beaches in the town. “Our mission is to protect unfettered access to our public beaches,” he said in an interview last week. “It was a very grassroots thing. I love the beaches.”

    The organization is currently weighing in on the side of the town and its trustees, fighting a suit by Seaview at Amagansett Limited, which claims that the beach in front of the White Sands, as well as other beachfront in the town, is privately owned, Mr. Lys said. He also serves on the board of the Amagansett Life Saving and Coast Guard Society.

    Like many on the South Fork, he has two jobs, prescriptive athletic training as well as running Weekend Warrior Tours and Outfitters, whose clients tour the area by kayak, paddle board, and bike. Born in Southampton, he graduated from East Hampton High School in 1994, but his academic career was delayed when he was diagnosed in 1997 with Ewings sarcoma. He won his battle, though he needed a hip replacement, then graduated from Penn State in 2000 with a degree in kinesiology, the study of human movement. He and his wife, a physical therapist with a practice in Montauk, met in England after college and now have three daughters.

    When one of his daughters asked him after his appointment why he was going to be working at night and appearing on LTV, he told her, “I want your home town to be what I had when I grew up.”

    An LTV junkie for the past few years, Mr. Lys said he often watched the board meetings on TV. “Now I’ll be able to use my voice,” he said. “I want to find out the full story [of any appeal], before I make my determination.”

    Mr. Lys’s name was put forward by East Hampton Town Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc on March 7, with Councilwoman Sylvia Overby, also a Democrat, and Councilman Dominick Stanzione, a Republican, voting for his appointment.

    “They replaced one fitness person with another,” joked Ms. McCobb, who has served on the board since the middle of 2007. She turned serious, though, as she reflected on her time on the board.

    “I think the thing I was most leery of was revetments,” she said. “That’s the one thing this town has to be careful of. I’m not completely against them,” she said, but added that she had seen too many cases where one neighbor can afford a revetment, while the other neighbor cannot. The one who cannot, she said, eventually watches part of his or her land get washed away, an unintended consequence of revetments.

    Ms. McCobb, an experienced triathlete, is the athletic director of i-tri, an organization dedicated to helping teenage girls with low self-esteem find themselves through the rigors of the triathlon.

    “We have 45 members now,” she said. Launched at Springs School as a pilot program, it has grown exponentially and may expand again next year into Southampton.

    “There is a learning curve,” she said of Mr. Lys’s near future on the board. Though she anticipates him fitting right in, Mr. Lys has his work cut out for him. His first hearing on March 12 was three hours long and involved the controversial Dunes Retreat, a residential drug and alcohol treatment facility on Bull Run in East Hampton.

Is Drug Treatment Facility Private?

Is Drug Treatment Facility Private?

The future of the Dunes, a substance-abuse treatment facility on Bull Run in East Hampton, was considered at a recent East Hampton Zoning Board of Appeals hearing.
The future of the Dunes, a substance-abuse treatment facility on Bull Run in East Hampton, was considered at a recent East Hampton Zoning Board of Appeals hearing.
T.E. McMorrow
Northwest Woods rehab center makes a pitch it functions as a family
By
T.E. McMorrow

    Whether the Dunes East Hampton, a drug treatment facility on Bull Run in Northwest, must undergo a lengthy site-plan review is soon to be determined by the East Hampton Zoning Board of Appeals.

     A March 12 hearing, well attended by both supporters and opponents of the facility despite a steady rain outside, produced thunderbolts from both sides. At the heart of the matter, as Alex Walter, the board’s chairman, remarked during the three-hour session, is whether the Dunes is a semi-public facility. If so, it will require a special permit and a full review by the town planning board.

    Joseph Campolo, an attorney, appeared on behalf of the owner, Safe Harbor Retreat, a company headed by Joe McKinsey. Mr. Campolo told the Z.B.A. that the facility is private; that residents must go through a screening process, and that “you couldn’t just walk in.” Jeffrey Bragman, representing Citizens for the Preservation of the Northwest Woods, which he said was a group of about 40 neighbors, countered among other things that if you had $42,500 for a month’s residency you would get in; i.e., that the facility is open to the public, as long as the public has the money.

    On the face of it, the Z.B.A. was considering a challenge by the Dunes to a September 2011 determination by the town’s head building inspector, Tom Preiato, that the facility is not a family unit.”

    Mr. McKinsey contends that the residents of the 3.9-acre property function as a single family, despite some of their stays being short-term. Mr. Preiato agreed with that view at first, in letters dated March 2010, and April 2011. Once the building inspector gave his blessing to the project, Mr. McKinsey signed a lease, with an option to buy, with the site’s owner, David Yoder.

    And not only did Mr. Preiato approve, says Mr. McKinsey; so did East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson, Town Police Chief Edward Ecker, and the head town attorney, John Jilnicki, all of whom, on July 9, 2011, signed a letter indicating their support.

    But two months later, in his September letter, Mr. Preiato stated that “it is now clear that such an operation is not permitted in a residential zone without site plan approval.”  That letter goes on to suggest that the Dunes “could possibly be classified as a semi-public facility,” and it encourages the corporation to apply for the necessary special permit.

    “My decision with regard to Safe Harbor Retreat in March 2010 was based on misleading facts as to what they proposed, and what actually ended up happening,” Mr. Preiato told the zoning board last week. He said he’d been told the house would operate something along the lines of a boarding school, but in fact, he said, “Rather than 11-month stays, the operation became transient in nature.”

    Mr. Campolo told the board 11 months was the suggested optimal stay for a recovering addict. Mr. McKinsey reiterated that point in an interview on Monday.

    Mr. Bragman, however, said at the hearing that the Dunes’s Web site advertises 90-day stays, at $42,500 a month. The price alone, he suggested, mitigates against long-term stays.

    “Do you have any statistics on the actual length of stays?” Mr. Walter asked Mr. Campolo.

    “Three to five months,” was the response.

    Mr. McKinsey said Monday that if asked, he would be happy to present the board with the statistics on the length of stays, with identifying information removed to preserve client anonymity. He speculated that the average stay was about 70 days. Residents do in fact behave as a family, he maintained, rising together in the morning, breakfasting, and doing group counseling, during which they plan their day’s activities, and end the day in group prayer and meditation.

    Mr. McKinsey himself is a recovering alcoholic. “I’ve been in recovery for 29 years,” he said. “At least 5,000 times I’ve heard ‘This is my family’ ” said of drug treatment centers such as the Dunes. “It’s a chance to start all over, to live in a family unit,” he said.

    Mr. Bragman scoffed at the idea that the Dunes was a “family unit.” “The Dunes set itself up as a very major business in a very quiet neighborhood in Northwest,” he told the zoning board.

    The facilities listed in the town code as semi-public, according to Mr. Bragman, include a geriatric home, a hospital, a clinic, and a medical arts building.

    Don Cirillo, a board member, challenged  Mr. Bragman’s contention that the Dunes is in fact a clinic, saying he believed the board’s verdict could hinge on that question.

    “Does a house have a clinical director?” Mr. Bragman asked. “No. A clinic has a clinical director,” he said, adding that the Dunes’s Web site identifies a clinical director of the program. “Their clinical director is supposed to be working there.”

    “It has a full clinical staff,” the lawyer said. “Did anybody tell that to the building inspector? No.”

    Mr. Bragman also critized, by implication anyway, a former town attorney, Madeline Narvilas (“I don’t mean to hammer Maddie Narvilas, but,” he said), saying that she left the town’s employ only to land, shortly after, at the Dunes, as its executive director.

    Mr. McKinsey countered that Ms. Narvilas had a keen interest in social work, having studied the subject in college, and as a friend of several years by the time he launched the Dunes, she was a natural for the organization.

    Mr. McKinsey said on Monday that no matter what, he and the Dunes were not going anywhere. “I’m not leaving. Let me make that that clear,” he said. He plans to exercise his option to buy within the next few months.

    In January 2012, the Dunes East Hampton launched a federal lawsuit against the town, charging it was a victim of discrimination, a violation of the federal Fair Housing and Americans with Disabilities Acts. The suit was later withdrawn to allow the two sides time to negotiate a settlement. It was withdrawn “without prejudice,” however, meaning that if no settlement is reached it can be reopened.

    At the end of last week’s hearing the zoning board agreed to close it to public comment, but allowed each side two more weeks to respond to each other’s documents.

Doubt Cast on Cyril’s

Doubt Cast on Cyril’s

Hampton Pix
County issues a warning about ‘spot zoning’
By
Joanne Pilgrim

    The Suffolk Planning Commission, in a letter received by the East Hampton Town Planning Department on Monday, has weighed in on a controversial request to relax the zoning on two residential lots on Napeague, calling it an attempt to create prohibited “spot zoning.” The proposed down-zoning would allow Cyril’s Fish House, a popular summertime bar and restaurant, to expand.

    Although the letter said the decision was a matter for local determination, there being “no apparent significant countywide or inter-community impact,” Sarah Lansdale, the director of planning, and Andrew P. Freleng, the county’s chief planner, warned that it “could set a precedent for other parcels in the area.” In addition, the county officials said, “If there is a townwide desire to create a node of commercial activity in this area, it should be pursued through a comprehensive plan/hamlet plan process.”

    The letter was not discussed during the town board’s work session on Tuesday, despite an encore appearance at it by the applicant’s attorney, Dianne LeVerrier, along with her clients. Ms. LeVerrier had rehashed the issue at a work session last week, following a public hearing on March 7. Because the hearing record was held open through today, the board allowed additional comments on Tuesday.

     Bonnie Dioguardi, one of the property owners, pleaded with the town board to steer her onto a clear path toward resolving the problems of parking, crowds, and an overburdened septic system, as well as the alleged, long-standing zoning code violations, which have resulted in numerous citations. “We have tried to satisfy. . . ,” she said, “but each time we were told of a new requirement.”

    Ms. Dioguardi said she and Cyril Fitzsimons, who rents the property and runs the eponymous business, are eager to do whatever it takes but have been caught between the different standards and regulations of the town and the Suffolk Health Department.

     At the heart of the controversy over the proposed change from residential to neighborhood business zoning are questions about whether it would comply with the comprehensive plan, is justified because of the potential to reduce highway parking and septic runoff, or if it would pave the way for a business that has flouted the law to expand.

    “All we want to do is operate,” Ms. Dioguardi told the board. “We just need to know who to go to just have the ability to operate.”

    “You have a right, by law, to continue your pre-existing, nonconforming use,” Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc told her. The restaurant has been at the site since before the property was zoned for residential use, and can continue but not expand, according to the code. The problem, the councilman said, is “things were done since it became nonconforming.”

    “It’s a round-robin,” Ms. Dioguardi said, referring to some of the additions that prompted citations for zoning violations. “These are all items that are needed to run a business. You need a refrigerator. You need propane for your cooking.”

    “There’s no continuity,” she said, of the differing town and county regulations with which Cyril’s must comply. “I want you to understand this; we have been trying and getting nowhere.”

    “I apologize on behalf of the town. It is shameful,” Councilwoman Theresa Quigley said.

    A possible town decision was hinted at, however, when Councilwoman Sylvia Overby asked Ms. Dioguardi if Cyril’s would be satisfied with reverting to the site’s original legal use, with a 62-seat limit. “That would be fine,” Ms. Dioguardi said.

    The town attorney’s office will prepare an environmental analysis, as required by the State Environmental Quality Review Act, if the board continues its consideration of the zone change. If a majority of the board decides not to take the matter further, discussions will end.

Witness to History in Eternal City

Witness to History in Eternal City

Msgr. Charles Guarino of Most Holy Trinity Parish said he was blessed to be in Vatican City for the election and inaugural Mass of Pope Francis.
Msgr. Charles Guarino of Most Holy Trinity Parish said he was blessed to be in Vatican City for the election and inaugural Mass of Pope Francis.
Msgr. Charles Guarino
East Hampton priest in Rome for Pope Francis’s selection and first Mass
By
Carrie Ann Salvi

    Msgr. Charles Guarino of Most Holy Trinity Catholic Parish in East Hampton said in an e-mail that he was “filled with joy and ready to return home to Montauk” on Tuesday, after being in Rome for the monumental occasion of the election of Pope Francis, the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

    He was in Rome for a course of study and was scheduled to return yesterday.

    Along with thousands of others, including dignitaries from all over the world, he said he was beyond thrilled to see Pope Francis wave and bless the crowd and incense the altar at his inaugural Mass on Tuesday.

    “I can’t begin to describe the feelings of excitement and genuine gratitude to have witnessed this historical moment in the life of our church,” he wrote on the church’s Web site. His experience included the moment when “the sfumata bianca was pouring out of the Sistine chimney” last Wednesday night, announcing that the conclave of cardinals had chosen a new pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina. He is the first Latin American pope, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first Jesuit.

    Monsignor Guarino said the ringing of the great bells of St. Peter’s informed those in the cold, rainy piazza that “our waiting was being rewarded and that indeed we have a new Pope whom we now know is Pope Francis!”

    “Blessed to be six rows from the Papal throne on Wednesday,” Msgr. Guarino said he heard languages from around the world which signaled the universality of a church that welcomed those from all countries.

    “What a beautiful way to begin!” he wrote, referring to the pope’s request for prayers for Pope Benedict XVI and for himself, while bowing in a posture of prayer. 

    Msgr. Guarino called his trip “both dramatic and historic,” and said it was hard to define the range of emotions that those present were feeling. He commended the former pope’s attempt to “bring about healing to a church wounded by scandals,” while admitting that “even by his personal high standards, nothing would be enough to begin that much needed healing.”

    The visiting priest also had some drama of his own during his visit to Rome — a three-day stay in the hospital with a bad case of bronchitis. The illness did not stop his appreciation of the incredibly blue sky in Rome he said. It comforted him as he watched as the Cardinals proceed into the Sistine Chapel to take their individual oaths of secrecy, chanting the “Veni Sancte Spiritu.” He wondered which one of them would be the new pope, and how they might bring healing and reform to the church.

    “It is a good and exciting time to be a Catholic and, yes, we all need to rediscover and recapture that pride in who we are as His church. We have been wounded but we are still alive. We have been disappointed and even scandalized but the church survives. Thus it has always been, thus it is now, and thus it will always be,” he wrote.

    After all is said and done, he said, he looks forward to leaving the Eternal City and returning home to assist the Mission Church of St. Peter the Apostle in Amagansett.

Parents Rally for Kraus

Parents Rally for Kraus

Wendy Geehreng Walters, a parent of two children at the John M. Marshall Elementary School, addressed the East Hampton School Board on Tuesday night to support Gina Kraus, John Marshall’s principal.
Wendy Geehreng Walters, a parent of two children at the John M. Marshall Elementary School, addressed the East Hampton School Board on Tuesday night to support Gina Kraus, John Marshall’s principal.
Morgan McGivern
Tears, anger over elementary principal’s ouster
By
Amanda M. Fairbanks

    Tensions in the East Hampton School District over the fate of the John M. Marshall Elementary School principal reached a fever pitch on Tuesday night, as more than 100 parents, teachers, and former administrators rallied in support of Gina Kraus at an East Hampton School Board meeting.

    Since announcing to her staff that she would not be granted tenure and that her role as an administrator would end in June, her supporters have leapt to her defense. On Tuesday, they formed a united front — speaking unequivocally of a school leader who possessed dynamism, patience, and a lifelong dedication to her craft.

    The East Hampton School Board, which normally meets in the district office and whose meetings are typically sparsely attended, looked out of place on Tuesday night as it held court inside the high school’s library. The meeting had been moved to a different venue to accommodate the large crowd of Ms. Kraus’s supporters.

    After sailing through the board’s normal business and before opening up the meeting for public comments, the superintendent, Richard Burns, read from a binder that included prepared remarks. He called it a “golden opportunity to address so many people at the same time,” indicating that it was his way of addressing the concerns raised over the past few weeks.

     “Our district is at a turning point. We can take the paths which are leading us to become an organization of higher quality, or we can remain focused merely on the limiting constraints of day-to-day reactions to events,” said Mr. Burns. “I genuinely believe that we are currently steering our district in a direction which keeps us on firm ground, as we move toward the next horizon.”

    He further addressed the need to be “proactive regarding community concerns,” one of the several goals that board members tasked him with last fall.

    “In recent days, the board and I have experienced a heightened appreciation of the need for even more frequent and thorough communication with stakeholders, whenever possible,” said Mr. Burns. “We need to let you know, earlier and more often, what we are doing, what steps we are taking, on behalf of our students, parents, and taxpayers. I am working on ways to communicate better.”

    But despite the apparent need for increased communication, neither he nor George Aman, the board’s president, addressed the issue concerning most audience members — the denial of Ms. Kraus’ tenure and whether, given such a show of support, the decision might be reversed.

    Mr. Aman further clarified that his hands were tied as it related to matters concerning the promotion, dismissal, or removal of any of the district’s personnel. “While we welcome your input, be aware of our limitations to publicly respond,” he said, noting that such matters are handled during closed-door executive sessions. “It’s not that we are ignoring or not listening. It’s that we’re publicly forbidden to deal with these issues.”

    Finally, the floodgates opened, as more than 20 parents and former administrators stood to speak. Over the next hour, as tears were shed and tempers raged, Mr. Burns and Ms. Kraus each sat with their heads bowed.

    “You don’t go out looking for a hamburger when you have a steak waiting at home,” said Wendy Geehreng Walters, the mother of two children at John Marshall. Ms. Geehreng Walters described Ms. Kraus as “a gem in our district,” and said she couldn’t understand why “she was being taken away from us.”

    Jim Brooks, whose children graduated from East Hampton High School, labeled the denial of Ms. Kraus’s tenure as “a great injustice.”

    “I was tired of the outsiders who preceded him [Mr. Burns] and I believed this would be a new era in East Hampton. To my great disappointment, this did not happen,” said Mr. Brooks, whose tone turned combative when referring to Mr. Burns. “I’ve lost respect for the superintendent and I believe he can’t be trusted.”

    At that point, Mr. Aman interjected, saying that while he wanted an open dialogue, he didn’t want anyone denigrated or bullied in the process.

    Mr. Brooks continued, speaking directly to Mr. Burns: “Rich, as you look back on this decision, I think you’re going to see it as the worst decision you made in your career by not granting her tenure.”

    Kim Jones, whose twin boys attend John Marshall, also spoke of chronic turnover among staff members. “You need a strong foundation to build academic excellence, but the foundation is rocky,” said Ms. Jones. “And you talk about building strong teams, but you can’t build strong teams if the members of the team are constantly changing.”

    Chris Tracey, the former principal of John Marshall, said the denial of Ms. Kraus’s tenure has weighed heavily on his heart. He called it a “lightning rod that will diminish the trust in the district’s leaders.”

    Ken Lewis, a Shelter Island resident and former school board member, described Ms. Kraus as a “homegrown talent . . . something that every school district wants — someone who has worked her way up through the ranks.” He labeled it a “disservice to your community and your district to allow this to happen.”

    But despite the endless back and forth, little was provided in the way of answers or next steps.

    “I hope the message is loud and clear,” said Courtney Garneau, who has three children at John Marshall. “You need to come back to your community and communicate with us and be transparent in your actions.”

    Mr. Aman concluded the meeting by saying that “we are limited in what we can say about our thinking.” He added, “We are appreciative you have all come out tonight. We’d like to see you come out at every board meeting.”

    When pushed, Mr. Burns similarly declined to discuss the matter, but said that at the next school board meeting on April 2, there “should be some type of notice.” A later call to his office went unreturned.

    After the meeting concluded, a long line of well-wishers stood to embrace Ms. Kraus as board members immediately exited the room.

    “I’m simply grateful for all of the support,” Ms. Kraus said, pushing back tears. She declined to comment further.