Dec 21, 2011 10:05 AM
The backyard of the Bridgehampton home. DANA SHAW
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The Southampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals last Thursday, December 15, overturned a determination by Chief Building Inspector Michael Benincasa that would have allowed a Bridgehampton homeowner to construct a swimming pool in her Hildreth Avenue front yard.
Mr. Benincasa issued a determination last year that the swampy backyard filled with phragmites and small pools of water qualified as waterfront property, after property owner Janet Finkel’s attorney, John Bennett, of the Southampton firm Bennett and Reid, argued for approvals for an above-ground pool in the front yard of the home, which borders a marsh area known locally as Sagg Swamp. Town code prohibits front yard pools unless a lot is deemed waterfront, in which case the front and rear yards can be considered swapped for development purposes.
Neighbors objecting to the pool... more
Mr. Benincasa issued a determination last year that the swampy backyard filled with phragmites and small pools of water qualified as waterfront property, after property owner Janet Finkel’s attorney, John Bennett, of the Southampton firm Bennett and Reid, argued for approvals for an above-ground pool in the front yard of the home, which borders a marsh area known locally as Sagg Swamp. Town code prohibits front yard pools unless a lot is deemed waterfront, in which case the front and rear yards can be considered swapped for development purposes.
Neighbors objecting to the pool... more
As for Mink's comments - the property to the south with the pool surely can't have a C/O ...more for the structure - OR the BZA never heard the case. If they did they would certainly their decision. It's my guess that either Benincasa told those folks the same story and the neighbors just don't know - or that the property owner installed it without seeking permits.
The proprety does not front on a pond under any definition of the word pond. There is no name for that "pond". The wetland is part of the greater Sagaponack Swamp which is the headwaters to Sagaponack Pond. It is a classic shrub swap (not POND) and the wetland boundary runs right up to the house practically.
The other properties with pools in their backyards had significantly more lot area between their houses and the edge of the wetlands and thus had sufficient room for pool installation. Either they were granted pool permits by the Conservation Board or they pre-exist the regulations.
Too bad these folks are going to be the only ones on the block without a pool! Guess the neighbors won't let them use theres huh?
Also the Town consistently let them violate code and then ignore notices of violation which were served and then pay a fine rather than go to court or actually apply for a variance! For years Code Enforcement personnel looked the other way, losing their file or saying a violation was unfounded when it was later overturned (after the officer left the department). They don't even discipline officers who are corrupt - they just let them resign.
How are we supposed to believe there is no corruption?
This department needs a new head, with a reorganization and ...more new systems in place.
Maybe there is an opening west of here?
a nice retired auto executive bought and renovated the house next door, pointed out that his property ...more extended a bit past the entrance to our driveway (that was a sand road when we bought the place and which our other neighbor had paved over up to our driveway). the family oriented auto exec asked for an easement to build a pool on the front side of the house so his grand children did not have to swim on the back sideof the house which had traffic from old montauk highway whizzing by. we gave him the easement, he built the pool, then he flippedthe house for a tidy profit to two of the worst neighbors ever, and here is why.
one day my dad saw a strange man wandering around their driveway, he was white, shoeless, and said he lived at the hotel across the street and was looking for his friends. once advised he was trspassing, he left. we told the new neighbors the next day when they came to winterize the house. they saidthanks, but t much else. we were away for the next two days and upon returning found a fence had been built across our driveway. fter we inquired the neighbors said we were on their property line. they refused to remove the very cheap and ugly fence, we could not even enter they ripped away two huge old rhododendron bushes to put the fence there, and they drained the pool ono the place were the bushes had been, later on the pool draining ended up killing the remaining arbor vitae planted in a row that we thought prettier than a fence.
i could go on but you get the picture.
Just because you live in the Hamptons does not mean you have a right to a pool - it's called an accessory structure for a reason. They should have considered the fact that there are ...more wetlands in the back when they purchased the property and that they wouldn't be able to install a pool - but maybe they had a sit down with Mr. Benincasa who assured them otherwise. Hmmm. . .
Racing at the Bridge, anyone?
You do not ...more have a right to a pool on your property without meeting the zoning requirements - just like you don't have the right to build above 32' high, just like you can't pave your entire property. These people knew the limitations of the property when they bought it and they probably rubbed a few elbows to get someone to side with them but fortunately the ZBA shot them down.
It's not soley about apperance either - it's about precedent setting. If this were determined to be a waterfront lot than every parcel backing a wetland would have the same designation and that opens a real pandora's box.
B) The pool is proposed in the (required) front yard. There are many examples of pools in side yards.
C) Give me an exmaple of the Town Board going "crazy" with "silly zoning" over the past 5 years. The "no clothes lines on the front lawn" (which actually I believe applied to the entire property - not just front lawns) was esentially a racist law and it was rightfully abolished.
D) How signs and constructed ...more and their colors are not zoning laws - those are sign laws under the building ocde
E)This law has been in effect for a long, long time, well before the property owners purchased their home which was quite recent (which was recent according to real estate information easily found on the web)
Is there really a problem with 11,000 square foot houses making the area look like a slum? Does the Rennart house really lower surrounding home values?
And Sagaponack recently created a law that any structure that adds character to he village can not be removed without ...more a permit.
So if I put a really cute play house for my granddaughter, and the residents really like it, I now need village approval to remove it when she grows up? What if I did not realize people really like it and disassemble it without a permit and then people complain. Do I have to rebuilt a playhouse that will not be used?
You're wrong - they don't. The only times it happens is when the front and rear yard flip - like on oceanfront/bayfront houses. The whole point of this article and BZA decision is that the BZA determined this property isn't waterfront because the body of water it fronts is a swamp. When ...more did I say that pools aren't allowed in the side yard? Oh that's right, I didn't. . .
As for that front yard tennis court - a tennis court doesn't need a permit since it's not a structure (only pavement - or in some cases grass/clay). What needs a permit is the fence - but that tennis court benefits from a hedge row, which means no permit needed. Learn the zoning code before you spout baseless examples.
Does your granddaughters playhouse require a building permit? No? Then you can put it up and take it down as you please. And if it DOES require a permit, it won't be in your required front yard so no one will see it. Stop with the absurd claims and never-gonna-happen scenarios and admit that you're wrong.
Lets get back to the pools, if letting this person put a pool in thier side yard is so horrible, why are all the others allowed? Why is town zoning sticking thier nose where it doesn't belong? And it is the town board who is required to write a definition for "wet lands" or "waterfront" not a unelected town employee.
This application is NOT about a pool in the SIDE yard - which is allowed with a variance and is very common. It's about a pool in a required FRONT YARD.
There is a definition for wetland in both the Town Code and New York State code, but of course most bodies of water are wetlands but not all wetlands are all bodies of water. The ZBA asked for the name of the waterbody this property fronts on and the attorney was unable ...more to provide one. It does not meet the definition of the "common sense" meaning of "water front". And after all, aren't we talking about "common sense"?
I bekieve this is how it is done in Alabama also!
So let them put in the pool, it will raise property values and increase the quality of life.
Unless your one of those types of people who hate to see others have fun.
So let them put in the pool, it will raise property values and increase the quality of life.
Unless your one of those types of people who hate to see others have fun.