Don’t call it an expansion, but Carissa’s Bakery at 221 Pantigo Road in East Hampton needs a little more elbow room — and parking.
In 2021, Lori Chemla, a co-owner of the business, purchased 219 Pantigo Road, directly west of the bakery. The owners now seek to merge the neighboring lots.
“The impetus for purchasing the lot was to protect it from anyone else and taking its seven parking spots,” Ms. Chemla told the East Hampton Town Planning Board at its Feb. 1 meeting.
A building on the parcel most recently used by an architect would be demolished, making way for a new two-story structure with a 1,333-square-foot basement, a 1,446-square-foot first floor, and a smaller second floor of 1,194 square feet, which would contain a three-bedroom apartment for staff housing.
The first floor would function as an addition to the current restaurant, staff office space, a break room, and a new baking kitchen. The basement would be solely for storage.
Parking is a big problem for Carissa’s. At present, the 75-seat restaurant has only eight parking spaces. If it were built today, with an apartment upstairs, town code would require 38. The new plan improves the deficiency somewhat by providing 16 parking spaces, including two Americans with Disabilities Act spaces in front of the building.
Alexander Kruhly, the architect for the project, said he had talked to neighbors about buying or leasing more parking spots. “The neighbors do not seem overly interested in working with us on this,” he told the planning board. The owners of the professional center to the east, occupied by Dayton Voorhees and Balsam, told the restaurant they would consider expanding a right of way, if the East Hampton Healthcare Center, abutting Carissa’s parking lot to the north, agreed to give Carissa’s more parking.
“However, they’d like to charge us for considering the proposal, even before we come to an agreement. So, it’s unclear if these attempts will bear fruit,” said Mr. Kruhly. He told the board there was “no formal owner” for a single rogue parking spot located between the three properties.
The right of way that separates Carissa’s from the health care facility and connects Dayton Voorhees and Balsam to Pantigo Place seems problematic. The foundation has signage along it saying No Parking, while Carissa’s has signs saying Parking for Carissa’s Customers Only.
“We question whether the no parking signage that was put up by our neighbor, if they have a legal right to do that,” said Mr. Kruhly.
All agreed that parking in the right of way, by anyone, was ill-advised.
The other big issue for Carissa’s is its sanitary flow, in other words, how many times a day its toilets might be flushed. Carissa’s hopes the town would issue affordable housing credits, which would allow the restaurant to go above the accepted flow rate.
Lou Cortese, a planning board member, took issue with any expansion of flow. “If this was built today, they would be allowed 225 gallons per day. With revised numbers, they’re going to be at 850 gallons per day, so more than three times the amount.” He questioned why the board would allow an expansion of an already nonconforming amount.
“I’d have to settle on denying the application because of that,” Mr. Cortese said, though he seemed alone in that opinion.
“The only reason you’re talking about expansion is because of the affordable housing,” said Mr. Kruhly. “The expanded business has no effect on septic calculations. We’re asking to include affordable housing for four people, which, as you know, there’s an affordable housing crisis in the Hamptons.”
“There’s also a parking and wastewater problem in East Hampton,” commented Randy Parsons, a board member.
“If you do not want to approve this application, then I will sell this to someone who will run another business next door,” said Ms. Chemla. “We can’t operate without more staff housing. If you don’t want to approve it, then someone else is going to come in and take over the parking.” She stressed that the restaurant was not adding seats or looking to expand production. “We’re not going to produce more croissants. We produce what we sell. Our equipment is very jammed in, and the people who work there are elbow to elbow.”
“We always say our code is good and prevents overdevelopment,” said Mr. Cortese. “But when applications come in front of the planning board and Z.B.A. and we relax the code, it doesn’t matter.”
Ed Krug, another board member, pointed out that if 219 Pantigo Road were sold to another business, “We’d be in a less favorable situation.”
Mr. Cortese’s opinion may win out in the end. A letter sent Friday from Joy Sauer, an environmental analyst at the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, to Samuel Kramer, chairman of the planning board, said that not only is a variance required, but that “the department recommends revising the proposal to not exceed the grandfathered sanitary flow, since the site exceeds double density, is located in a sensitive area, and it appears a conforming sanitary system cannot be provided.”
She cautioned that if the business wants to exceed the grandfathered amount of flow, it will need to provide a “super offset” for the proposal.
