Objections to and support for a proposed 12-month “large house” moratorium were aired at a Town Board public hearing Tuesday.
It would temporarily suspend projects of more than 5,999 square feet of living area (SFLA) in anticipation of Town Code adjustments.
Two attorneys representing clients with pending applications asked that their projects be exempted. Pandion developer Richard Hogan also objected, saying a moratorium could have long-lasting adverse impacts. He advocated instead for a ratio linking house size to lot size.
Stella Lagudis, general manager of the Shelter Island Heights Property Owners Corporation, reiterated her board’s support for the moratorium. Bert Waife also endorsed the measure, saying “massive homes” threaten the community’s character.
After accepting comments, the Town Board kept the hearing open, pending input from the Suffolk County Planning Commission, which meets on May 3.
Town Attorney Stephen F. Kiely said that while the Town Board must wait for SCPC review, the results aren’t binding. The Town Board can overrule county planners by a majority plus one vote.
11 Serpentine Drive
Attorney John Bennett, of Bennett & Read LLP, represents the owners of Crescent Beach LLC. They’re seeking a special permit for a new single-family home plus outbuildings totaling 12,150 SFLA, according to the Building Department’s report.
Follow this link to see the 11 Serpentine Drive application on the Town website.
The 8.8-acre waterfront site is at 11 Serpentine Drive, but access is via a driveway off Shore Road opposite Weck’s Pond. Due to the driveway layout, the project also requires a wetlands permit.
[During Tuesday’s meeting, the Town Board voted to put the Planning Board in charge of wetlands permitting; read our coverage here.]
Bennett argued the Town should exempt current applicants like his clients. Further, he questioned the moratorium’s validity, saying it’s “far too long; a year is a significant delay in development.”
Moreover, since the Town Board already subjects 6,000+ SFLA homes to special permit review, he said, “we don’t see why you need a moratorium.”
He noted that applicants must clear all other regulatory hurdles before seeking Town Board approval; 11 Serpentine Drive was vetted by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, county Department of Health Services, and local Zoning Board of Appeals.
Since February, he said he repeatedly attempted to continue the project’s public hearing until the Town Board’s moratorium proposal stalled it.
“It may not be bad faith, but it sort of looks like it,” he said.
Citing a 1991 Suffolk County Supreme Court case, Duke v Town of Huntington, Bennett said towns can only impose such a stay as an “emergency measure” in response to a “dire necessity” or “crisis condition.”
“I don’t understand how these applications that come before you and are subject to your discretion are an emergency,” he said. “Where’s the ‘dire necessity’ here?”
In the Duke case, a homeowner seeking a dock permit sued successfully after the Town of Huntington repeatedly extended a moratorium while completing its waterfront renewal plan, causing delays lasting three years.
Bennett also rejected the Town’s contention that the embargo protects the aquifer. He said the special permit projects he’s represented pose no adverse impacts to the aquifer.
And he cited an analysis showing a home of less than 6,000 square feet “may have a water demand in excess of an 8,000-, 10,000-, 12,000-square foot house.”
“It’s about bedrooms, it’s about seasonality of use, it’s about a lot of things,” he said.
149 North Ram Island Road
Attorney Christopher D. Kelley, of Twomey, Latham, Shea, Kelley, Dubin & Quartararo, LLP, spoke on behalf of David and Alison Ullendorff, asking they also be exempted.
As new owners of 149 North Ram Island Road, they seek a special permit to legalize the previous owner’s basement alterations.
These boosted the home to 9,260 SFLA, the Building Department said. Follow this link for the project’s application on the Town’s website.
Anticipating Town Board approval, Kelley said the Ullendorffs got county approval for a required Innovative Alternative Onsite Wastewater Treatment (I/A) system. Then, they installed the “very expensive” system, he said, because they understood the Town Board never denied a special permit.
Kelley asked the Town Board to approve the permit request citing as reasons:
- the installation of the I/A system
- no increase in building size
- both the Planning Board and Conservation Advisory Council recommended the approval
- no public comments were received opposing the project
- and “there’s been no identification of any adverse environmental impacts.”
“We’re just legalizing the finishing of the basement,” he said.
Alternatively, if the Town Board enacts a moratorium, he requested “exemptions for applications such as this.”
SIHPOC reiterates moratorium support
Speaking on behalf of the SIHPOC board, Lagudis reiterated previously expressed support.
As of October 2022, she said, Town assessment data showed just 37 homes around the Island exceeded 6,000 SFLA within a single structure or compound.
But since then, owners of another eight properties have applied for special permits. Some have won approval and are under construction, she said, describing the recent application frequency as “fast and furious.”
What’s more, the proposed homes far exceed the Island’s median size of 2,000 square feet, she said.
“Those eight are not looking for 6,050 square feet, they’re looking for a total of between 8,000 and 12,000 square feet,” she said. “So, they’re big asks.”
In addition to the Town Board’s stated concerns about aquifer, wetlands, and community character impacts, she said, “we have to consider do we want to remain this charming Island? Do we want to turn into the Hamptons?”
“You’re not asking for a moratorium to go on forever; it’s 12 months,” she said. “It’s helpful to stop and take a breath and really make some assessments without establishing potentially bad precedents.”
Hogan warns of cascading harm
Richard Hogan, an Island homeowner and developer of Pandion on the site of the former St. Gabriel’s Retreat, told the board he has “a deep appreciation for the nature and character of this community.”
He noted that Pandion’s 25-acre property could’ve yielded 21 homes under current zoning, with each allowed 5,999 SFLA by right. Instead, he designed the Coecles Harbor shorefront project with five 3.25-acre homesites.
“Minimizing the number of structures there was my primary goal,” Hogan said.
Initially, he said he imposed a design limit of 3,000 SFLA per acre (10,000 SFLA for a 3.25-acre lot).
“While this may sound overly generous,” he said, “the very existence of guidelines turned away prospective buyers.”
Once he removed the limits, three parcels were sold. Last July, the Town Board granted a special permit for a home of 10,868 SFLA on Pandion Lot #3.
A moratorium, Hogan said, could result in freezing the “high-end property market” with adverse impacts cascading throughout the Island’s economy, affecting businesses, tax apportionment, and even open space acquisitions.
Instead, Hogan encouraged the Town Board to consider enacting a “clear and understable code limiting house sizes based on a ratio of lot size.”
“In my opinion, a 6,000-square-foot home on a 1-acre parcel is out of proportion and overly demanding on our precious natural resources,” he said. “That same size house on a 3-, 6-, or 10-acre parcel carries none of those burdens.”
Awaiting Comprehensive Plan update
Supervisor Gerry Siller said the Town may reduce the proposed permit hiatus to six months, depending on the pace of the Comprehensive Plan update.
But, Siller said, Hogan actually “made the case for the moratorium,” as the Town Board considers what’s best for the Island as a whole.
“We’ve talked about proportionality, we’ve talked about having set guidelines for everyone — not each [project] individually, and how are we going to handle this, that or the other thing.”
“That was the intent of the moratorium,” Siller said. “To make this more structured.”
Kiely said Hogan’s call for a “thoughtful and nuanced approach” is “exactly what the Town Board wants to do.”
Now, there are no specific standards for assessing large homes subject to special permit review, Kiely said. However, it would be “municipal malfeasance” to attempt to update the approval mechanism while the Comprehensive Plan update is underway.
Councilwomen Meg Larsen and BJ Ianfolla, who lead the Comprehensive Plan Task Force, said the ongoing public review will last until the fall.
Once the Town Board adopts the updated plan, it will need some more time to enact recommended legislative changes.
‘Everybody’s given up something’
Bert Waife joked that, back in the pre-zoning days, his family dreamed of turning their home into a five-story hotel. But zoning (and other updates) have limited what they’ve been able to do with the place.
“Throughout the Island, everybody’s given up something,” he said, and a moratorium pending further adjustments makes sense.
“It changes the character of the Island when you have massive homes, regardless of it’s on three or six acres.”
And the impacts aren’t just local, he said. Larger homes may impose greater demands on shared resources beyond those within the Town, such as electricity.
To make the point that the knock-on effects of local decisions also deserve consideration, he used the example of wind farms, put in place in response to rising demand, that displace local fisheries.
“The Town has a responsibility to look at the total environment and what the cost is of a large home.”
