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Plea for a Building Break

Wed, 09/08/2021 - 15:29

Citing the proliferation in recent years of "extremely large houses" looming over and destroying the privacy of their neighbors, the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee asked the East Hampton Town Board at its meeting on Tuesday to strengthen the town code, particularly as to setbacks and the pyramid law, and to impose a moratorium on building permits and on "the many subdivisions that are occurring in all East Hampton hamlets and especially in Amagansett."

In a letter to the board, the committee argued that gross floor area and coverage requirements are "much more liberal" here than in surrounding towns, and recommended that the town "stop house sizes at 4,000 square feet." A moratorium, it said, would "prevent property owners from making a mad dash for building permits under the current rules."

The committee asked also that more specific standards be set as "guidelines" for the planning, zoning, and architectural review boards, and suggested that the board create an overlay district in the hamlet's lanes and in BeachHampton. Those areas "are being developed as never before," it said.

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Item of the Week: From Mary Nimmo Moran, Christmas 1898

This etching by Mary Nimmo Moran shows what was likely the view from her home across Town Pond, with the Gardiner Mill in the background, a favorite landscape for her.

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