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DeliciousAn application to demolish a greenhouse located on County Road 39 in Southampton and construct a new 3,000-square-foot building in its place was deemed complete by the Southampton Town Planning Board last week.
If approved, the applicants intend to raze the greenhouse on the 0.75-acre lot located at the corner of County Road 39 and Henry Road and replace it with a building on the northern part of the property. The applicant, Richard DePierro, intends to use the new building to house a home furnishing store, according to his project manager, Philip Anderson.
On Thursday, June 18, board members said they will most likely move to eliminate the entrance to the property from County Road 39. Member Jacqui Lofaro also noted that she would prefer to see the new building in the front of the property, closer to County Road 39.
A hearing on the application is set for Thursday, July 23.
Also last week, the Planning Board heard from Michael Ullian, who is proposing a 24-unit condominium complex and wants to construct it in phases. The development, called Ponquogue Manor, was approved by the Planning Board last November and will be constructed on the site of the former Allen’s Acres Resort Motel, a 10-building complex of fading pastel pink buildings in Hampton Bays that was recently the site of a suspicious fire.
Mr. Ullian plans to replace the motel with six buildings with brown shingles and white trim, a copper roof and fieldstone chimneys throughout the project. The condos will range in size from 900 to 1,600 square feet and will sell at prices beginning around $675,000.
Citing the poor economy, Mr. Ullian told the Planning Board he wanted to test the waters with just three units before committing to the entire project.
“Right now, if I deliver 24 units it would be disastrous,” he said. Outside the meeting, he explained that he needed to have flexibility to ensure that the project remained economically feasible. “I now have to be a lot more concerned about the economy,” he said.
The Planning Board is expected to continue evaluating his application at its next meeting, to be held on Thursday, June 25.
Also on Thursday, board members expressed continuing frustration at a proposed law that would require applicants of site plans or subdivisions to complete an adaptive reuse analysis plan if their project includes the demolition of any building 75 years of age or older.
The law, proposed by Southampton Town Supervisor Linda Kabot and supported by Councilwoman Sally Pope, would add an extra step in the application process, but would not require applicants to preserve the structure, even if the consultant determined that the building could be reused. Instead, the law suggests that Planning Board members use their “powers of persuasion” to entice the applicant into reusing the old building.
“When you have a 45-day delay and ask for $5,000 to complete this study, applicants aren’t going to be very open to our powers of persuasion,” said Planning Board Chairman Dennis Finnerty.
Planning Board members also argued on Thursday that the requirement would only lengthen and complicate an already lengthy planning process.
The law was revised from an earlier version. It now includes a provision for an applicant to seek a waiver if they will have a hardship completing the study.
The new law was scheduled for a hearing before the Town Board on Tuesday, June 23.
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