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Charlie’s Lane house applications heard again

COURTESY PHOTO | The Town Board heard wetlands and a special permit applications for an 8,297 square foot house.
REPORTER FILE PHOTO PHOTO | The Town Board heard wetlands and a special permit applications for an 8,297 square foot house.

On Friday the Town Board again heard a discussion on a wetlands application and a special permit application by Brad Tolkin.

The plan is to remove an existing structure on Charlie’s Lane and replace it with an 8,297-square-foot house. The plan includes eight bedrooms and bathrooms, with two half baths and bedroom suites in a garage and basement. It will also include 4,150 square feet of porch, terrace, cabana and the garage.

Once again, it was a lengthy session with several neighbors of the property expressing concerns about the size of the proposed project, water usage, traffic and negative environmental impacts if the applications are approved.

The plan is to install a 10,000 gallon cistern to irrigate the lawn, and to plant drought tolerant plants as vegetative buffers. Mr. Tolkin’s representatives estimated that irrigation would requite trucking in off-Island water every week or 10 days.

In addition to questioning the size of the project, which would increase septic use, neighbors said the overall water use of the proposed property would endanger their wells. They also maintained that large trucks bringing in up to 5,400 gallons of water and taking an hour of delivery time every week, would disrupt the neighborhood. One resident noted that large trucks coming down narrow Charlie’s Lane posed a danger to the number of small children playing in the area.

Rob Herman, who is leading the deign team along with architect Peter Cook, defended the pan, saying, “We’re not just clearing a lot here … this is mitigation of the existing site conditions. Whatever house goes on the property or doesn’t go on the property, these are all benefits to the property to the town and the neighborhood, based on what the use of the property could be.”

But neighbors continued to speak passionately about what they see as a threat to their neighborhood if the plans are approved.

Supervisor Jim Dougherty then closed the public hearing.