The East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals agreed last week to send a nonbinding letter of potential approval to the town planning board regarding 20 variances required for a major rebuild of the Devon Yacht Club that has been making its way through the town’s review boards for the better part of three years.
“We’re not asking for an official decision,” Lisa Liquori, a consultant to the town Planning Department, told the zoning board over Zoom at its April 22 meeting. “It is an indication of whether or not you think it is approvable eventually. The planning board wanted to obtain feedback from the zoning board of appeals before going forward with the application.”
“A majority of the Z.B.A. members offer support, and a favorable opinion of the application as presented,” read the letter. (Jaine Mehring, a zoning board member, was recused from the application.) “The Z.B.A. acknowledges that as a result of the planning board and Z.B.A.’s review processes, positive changes and adjustments to the application have been made which stand to benefit the town and the proposed on-site environmental conditions.”
“I have no objection to the letter being forwarded to the planning board,” Denise Savarese, the zoning board’s vice chairwoman, wrote to her fellow board members (she couldn’t attend the April 22 meeting in person). “However, I strongly object to language that suggests the zoning board is looking favorably on this application. This is not what we are being asked to do. We are being asked to make the planning board aware of our concerns and make recommendations.”
Teresa Berger, another Z.B.A. member, agreed with Ms. Savarese. “I think it’s very generous to the applicant.”
Tina Vavilis LaGarenne, the town’s planning director, interrupted Roy Dalene, the Z.B.A. chairman, as he was about to call a vote on the letter, to double-check Ms. Berger’s stance.
“Terry, if you have things that you want to see, that you think are too generous, or you think are inaccurate, you should tell us now so we can get them in the record.”
“I’m fine with sending it to the planning board,” Ms. Berger said.
The private yacht club and marina, founded in 1908, sits on a 13-acre parcel along Gardiner’s Bay in Amagansett and has been in front of the planning board since 2022, working to achieve site plan approval.
Even if the club weren’t surrounded by a beach and wetlands, it would be a complex application, involving the demolition, reconstruction, and relocation of buildings and amenities, including a new 15,000-square-foot clubhouse.
The beach and wetlands are surrounded by setbacks, put in place to buffer the effects of development. So, not only do the proposed plans require many variances from those setbacks but they also require a natural resources special permit.
The board’s letter did raise concerns about the gross floor area increase of the buildings and how they could lead to an intensification at the club. They suggested additional covenants to restrict use, such as limiting restaurant seating capacity, limiting the months the club could operate, and limiting the occupancy of staff housing.
Neither did the board appreciate the way the club offered only a single alternative to its plan, which was to “do nothing.” They suggested a couple of others, such as reducing the number of tennis courts and relocating staff housing off site.
Ms. Liquori said that after the planning board deems the application complete, and the environmental review is finished, Devon would return to the Z.B.A. for an official hearing and that board’s determination.
