After a decade on the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals, with five as its chairman during the frenetic building boom of Covid, Roy Dalene is leaving.
“At this time, and with my term ending in December, I am electing to not continue serving on the Z.B.A.,” he wrote to Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez and the town board in early November. “It has been my honor to serve my community in this capacity over these many years.”
One would not want to play poker with the 68-year-old Mr. Dalene. As he ran meetings, often with millions of dollars hanging in the balance of his board’s decisions, he displayed scant emotion. He spoke flatly, rarely with humor or a smile, and engaged in minimal conversation. He was all business.
“I have had the honor of working with Roy for a number of years,” Denise Savarese, the board’s vice chair, wrote in an email. “Through his leadership, integrity and devotion to our community, Roy will leave a lasting and meaningful impact on our town. As Roy retires, I honor not only the work he has accomplished, but the wisdom and spirit with which he has served. As a friend and colleague, I will miss his presence and with deepest gratitude I thank him for his years of service, and I wish him good luck with what the next chapter holds.”
For 38 years, Mr. Dalene has served the town, including 28 years on the license review board, and many as a member of the youth advisory committee. He not only had a pivotal role in enforcing the code as a member of the Z.B.A., but, even before his tenure, he helped craft it.
In 2005, he worked with a committee to update the town’s home improvement contractor’s code. “The bar was raised as to the responsibility of contractors working in East Hampton and I am proud of that effort,” he wrote.
He has an engineering background, with a degree from New York University’s Polytechnic School of Engineering, and owns Telemark Inc., a luxury home builder. He plans to remain in East Hampton, where he has children and grandchildren.
Originally from Smithtown, Mr. Dalene moved out to East Hampton in 1984 and quickly decided he wanted to be involved with the community.
“I remember sitting in front of Cathy Lester. She looked at me and I could tell she was thinking, ‘Who is this man?’ ” he said in a phone conversation last week.
“I go out on a good note,” he said. “All of these years I’ve been on boards, I’ve never brought politics into anything I’ve ever done. I have no political ambition whatsoever. I came to this board 10 years ago when Larry Cantwell, who I used to fish with on the beach, asked me if I wanted to be on the Z.B.A. I told him, ‘No way,’ but he convinced me I should give it a shot.”
“I’ve always guarded against opining on specific applications,” he answered when asked to recount some interesting times at the zoning board. He did, however, comment on the amount of development he’s witnessed in recent years.
“I feel there’s aggressive development pressure out here, especially in the last 10 to 15 years. There’s been a big push to maximize [gross floor area] and coverages, and I do think that needs to be curtailed.”
Nonetheless, he suggested that the town board had gone too far last winter in at least some zoning code amendments. “I honestly think the town board fell short in listening to the younger working population and what they need as they grow their families. Basically, they said not enough people came out to speak on the issue, but I think the quality of the people that spoke was incredible and meaningful. I think they restricted G.F.A. on smaller lots too much.”
“I believe the town had great wisdom in creating the natural resources special permit process, as we have many natural features worthy of protection. Especially since Covid, people would buy land sight unseen and then complain they had to go through the [natural resources special permit] process, because they didn’t do their due diligence when purchasing.”
He agreed that there are times when guidelines or policies can be relaxed, providing natural resources would not be degraded during construction, “Such as changing out a window,” he said.
“I believe the Z.B.A. should consist of five individual decision-making people who exhibit the highest integrity and standards of any municipal board,” Mr. Dalene said. “We’re an adjudicating board, and we should come to each application with an absolutely unbiased opinion on anything we’re about to hear. The integrity of the decision-making of our present board has been diminished.”
“Roy has given nearly four decades of thoughtful, dedicated service to the people of East Hampton,” said Supervisor Burke-Gonzalez. “We are all grateful for his steady leadership, his respect for our natural environment, and the care he has brought to every role he’s held. We wish him the very best and thank him sincerely for all he has done.”
