Zagoreos project examined
Matt Sherman, representing Mr. Zagoreos, tries to refocus the board’s discussion.
Alexander Zagoreos’s problems didn’t end when the fire that severely damaged his house on May 8, 2007 was extinguished.
His recent plan to build a new, bigger home on his property has become a point of contention for some town officials. Mr. Zagoreos’s representative, Matt Sherman, said at the December 1 Town Board work session that his client has not yet determined how big this new house will be. Regulations enacted since the original house was constructed would require a new structure to be built on stilts, which adds to concerns that a new house would be much more visible than the current building. The Zagoreos house is the only one on Ram Island’s First Causeway.
Before he builds a new home, Mr. Zagoreos wishes to demolish his current house and septic system. This requires a wetlands permit because these operations would be within 100 feet of the shoreline. His new house would be built outside of that 100-foot buffer, so construction was not included in the wetlands permit request.
But discussion of the new house and whether its construction would require a special permit from the Zoning Board nonetheless took up much of the meeting. The issue stems from a disagreement in the interpretation of section 133-11 of Town Code that says operations in an “Undeveloped Coastal Barrier District” must be approved by the Zoning Board. Permits Coordinator Mary Wilson has stated repeatedly that she doesn’t believe Mr. Zagoreos’s property constitutes an “Undeveloped Coastal Barrier District,” and she will not refer the house proposal to the Zoning Board unless asked to do so by the Town Board.
Town Attorney Laury Dowd says she and Zoning Board members disagree, believing this part of the code does apply and that a special permit review would be appropriate.
During discussion about the proposed house, Town Supervisor Jim Dougherty expressed dissatisfaction with the limited circumstances regarding when a wetlands permit is required. He said he is very grateful that the 100-foot wetlands buffer exists, but that 100 feet is an arbitrary number. “I think that the whole causeway is the wetlands,” he said, “so I’m not sure I agree with the 100 feet.” He said he would like to see the issue of the new house go to the Zoning Board.
Mr. Dougherty had said at the November 16 work session that town leaders must view the project “holistically,” meaning they should consider all aspects of the project and any possible alternatives. The question on everyone’s mind, said board member Glenn Waddington, is about the proposed house: “How high is this thing going to be?”
This discussion had Mr. Sherman visibly frustrated at the December 1 work session, and he asked town board members to focus on what he said was the matter at hand: the Zagoreos’s wetlands permit. “When [the new house proposal] comes to the Zoning Board for a special permit, if it has to go there, that’s where that’s decided,” said Mr. Sherman. “That’s not decided here at the wetlands permit application for the demolition of the existing house.”
As requested, Mr. Sherman provided the board with a revised site plan of the proposed house, which he said was reduced from the original plan of a 3,300-square-foot footprint to about a 2,000-square-foot footprint. Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) members said at their November 16 meeting that they don’t want to see a bigger house on the property, so this reduction was an attempt “to be more consistent with what the CAC had suggested,” said Mr. Sherman.
Town Supervisor Jim Dougherty asked Mr. Sherman to clarify what he meant by “2,000-square-foot footprint,” and asked whether he had any sense of the size of the future house, whether it was going to be a one-story house or whether that footprint meant it would be a 4,000-square-foot two-story house.
Mr. Sherman responded that from a bird’s-eye view, the construction would take up a two-dimensioned area of 2,000 square feet, but that because designs are still being worked on, he didn’t know any further specifications, such as height. “It’s going to be taller,” he said, “because there’re new flood regulations out there that weren’t out there when this was constructed. How much higher, if I gave you a number, it would be misleading, because I simply don’t know.”
Board member Peter Reich said that even if the house is on stilts, the house cannot extend beyond 35 feet above the grade of the lot. Mr. Sherman assured the board that a 35-foot house is not what he is proposing.
Mr. Waddington said he had no problem demolishing the house, saying it “right now is an eyesore.” But he reminded Mr. Sherman that if he gets the wetlands permit, there’s still no guarantee that he’ll receive a special permit from the Zoning Board to build the new house, if the Town Board does indeed decide that a special permit is necessary.
“I understand that,” said Mr. Sherman, “but we’ve got to start somewhere.”
Mr. Dougherty requested that Mr. Sherman fill out a State Environmental Quality Review form, which will help determine the full environmental impact of the wetlands permit, since “there’s a lot of environmental concern here.”
Mr. Sherman expressed his concern that once he gets this form in, the board will “ask for something else and then you’re going to ask for something else and this is going to go on for quite some time,” but said he would provide the requested form by the next meeting.
Mr. Sherman had mentioned at the November 16 work session that the owners are still willing to sell the property to the town, and reiterated Tuesday that the owners are more than willing to consider any alternatives to their current project. Mr. Dougherty responded, “we’d like to brainstorm all the options.”
