Board ponders setting precedents for future construction
It’s a process that is moving slowly to a conclusion, seemingly inch-by-inch, and actually foot-by-foot.
At its work session Tuesday, the Town Board again turned to Brad Tolkin’s plans to build a house on Charlie’s Lane, and carved more square footage off the original project by asking for the removal of bedrooms and baths over the garage and in the basement.
Mr. Tolkin’s’s representatives had offered to take out the basement living quarters and seemed amenable to removing them from the garage.
The board voiced the idea that a decision to grant Mr. Tolkin wetlands and special permit applications should not only consider the plan before them, but setting precedents for future boards. With a real estate boom here, and larger and larger projects contemplated, board members have said, in so many words, that they are gatekeepers to what Shelter Island will become.
Mr. Tolkin’s original idea was to remove an existing structure on Charlie’s Lane and replace it with an 8,297-square-foot house, with eight bedrooms and bathrooms, two half baths and bedroom suites in the garage and basement. It will also include 4,150 square feet of porch, terrace, cabana and garage
The board has been wrestling with the applications in part because neighbors have organized a significant protest concerning the size of the proposed project, water usage, traffic and negative environmental impacts if the applications are approved.
Tuesday Councilman Paul Shepherd, who has carried the water on this issue for the board as the most actively involved member when it comes to questions and expertise, asked the Tolkin representatives present — attorney Kieran Pape Murphree and architect Don Bouchard — if a state-of-the-art, environmentally sensitive pump could be installed in the new house to slow water flow. Ms. Murphree and Mr. Bouchard seemed agreeable to the idea.
In the numbers game, the new square footage, if the two bedrooms are removed, would be 7,840.
But Councilman Ed Brown noted that the property is still “in a sensitive area.”
Councilman Peter Reich has recused himself because he’s a neighbor of the Tolkin property and also might bid on construction projects in the future.
Mr. Brown said he was struggling to come up with a decision, asking his colleagues, “What gets us there?”
He asked Supervisor Jim Dougherty directly for his opinion. Mr. Dougherty said he had been busy putting together a preliminary town budget for next year. Lifting a heavy file in front of him of Tolkin documents, he said that he was going to go though it and “be a tabula rasa.”
Councilwoman Chris Lewis said she didn’t believe the issue was only about square footage, or Mr. Tolkin’s plan, but “is with the future.”
Mr. Dougherty agreed, and said the board was not trying to thwart “the desires” of the property owners, but to consider the size and location of the plan for future Town Board decisions.
Ms. Lewis noted that she and her colleagues should “pull the trigger soon” on the applications.
In other business:
The board discussed language in the proposed irrigation law being drafted by Town Attorney Laury Dowd. A public hearing on the proposed law is scheduled for October 3 at Town Hall. Mr. Shepherd invited residents to view the draft proposal on the town’s website “so you can inform yourself before you start yelling at me.”
Mr. Brown and Mr. Reich formed a subcommittee to look into town fees and fines. The idea of just raising all fees 1.6 or 2 percent across the board was discussed, or to look at them individually.
When it comes to fines, Mr. Brown noted that a wetlands violation has a $5,000 fine that he felt was too low, and Ms. Lewis agreed, noting that a fine is often just “the cost of doing business.”
Mr. Reich said that when department heads are called in for budget reports, fees and fines could be discussed with them.
As for the upcoming budget, the board announced dates when it will be discussed. Meetings will be at Town Hall on Monday, October 6, from 9 a.m. to noon, Wednesday, October 8, from 1 to 4 p.m., Thursday, October 9 and Friday, October 10, both at 9 a.m. to noon.
The following week, Wednesday and Thursday, October 15-16 are penciled in for meetings from 9 a.m. to noon.
