Government

ZBA wants terms for institutions

PETER BOODY PHOTO | The Mashomack preserve could be affected by ZBA descions.

Should public properties such as the Mashomack Preserve and Sylvester Manor be exempt from terms imposed on private lots, limiting them to one residences on a single parcel?

The Town Board clearly made the distinction earlier this month, granting the Nature Conservancy that runs the Preserve permission to install an additional house for staff members while stipulating that there is a distinction between such a public property and a privately owned parcel.

Following up on that approval, the town is organizing a subcommittee to discuss distinctions it might want to apply to such entities to further separate them from private properties. Phil DiOrio agreed at the November 14 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting to represent that entity on the subcommittee. The alternative, ZBA members feared, would be to force such public lands into subdivisions to accommodate additional structures and that’s something they said they don’t want to do. The ZBA wants to assure that public parcels such as Mashomack Preserve and Sylvester Manor stay as single pieces of property, ZBA chairman Doug Matz said.

“It’s an institution,” member Patricia Shillingburg said, suggesting there are few such entities on the Island and all — Mashomack, Sylvester Manor, Camp Quinipet, the Perlman Music Center and the Passionist Fathers St. Gabe’s retreat center — should be included in any special category the subcommittee might suggest be established.

Such categorization would be a show of faith to these entities that the town wants to cooperate in helping them to meet special needs such as housing for employees, Mr. DiOrio said. A move in that direction would make it easier for big institutions to look at providing on site residences in situations where it “might make sense,” he said.

IT’S UNANIMOUS
By a 5-0 vote, ZBA members approved an application from Marion Pedersen for a special permit to reconstruct more than 50 percent of a nonconforming structure and add a deck to her property at 62 North Cartwright Road. At the ZBA’s work session the previous week, members agreed the single family dwelling on the lot in a residential neighborhood was the most appropriate use of the land and that the applicant has improved a dilapidated structure by bringing it into compliance. The approval requires that exterior lighting be dark sky compliant.
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