Appeals Court Sides With Landowner Over Southampton Village ZBA

Southampton Village has lost an appeal that sought to reinstate a Zoning Board of Appeals decision denying a property owner a special permit to build a residence in an office district.

Back in April 2022, the ZBA voted, 4-0, against granting a special exception permit for a single-family home at 220 Hampton Road, a 0.72-acre parcel in the Hampton Road office district where a house had stood until it was demolished in 2006. The owner since 2017, local real estate broker Christopher Burnside, sued the ZBA in State Supreme Court and won in June 2023. That court ordered the ZBA to grant Burnside the special exception use permit and lot coverage and floor area variances that he had applied for. However, the village appealed.

A year and a half later, on January 13, attorneys for the village and Burnside argued the case before the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, in Brooklyn. The appeals court handed down its decision on June 4, finding that the State Supreme Court was correct to overturn the ZBA’s decision.

“As the Supreme Court properly determined, the challenged determination of the ZBA was not supported by the record,” the appeals court decision reads. “The property was used residentially from 1916 until the house on it was demolished in 2006, and the surrounding properties were largely residential. Accordingly, the ZBA’s determination that the property was not particularly suitable for residential use was not supported by the record.”

The decision went on to point out that while the ZBA had contended that “the need for area variances for floor area and lot coverage was self-created, and the area variance for lot coverage appeared substantial,” Burnside’s lot is nearly three times the minimum lot size for a property in the Hampton Road office district.

“Critically, there was no evidence before the ZBA showing that the granting of the special use permit or the area variances for floor area and lot coverage would have an undesirable effect on the character of the neighborhood, adversely impact physical and environmental conditions, or otherwise result in a detriment to the health, safety, and welfare of the neighborhood or community,” the decision continues.

Burnside had argued before the ZBA that a residence would be low impact and better for the community compared to an office and said it would sit well among other homes in the area. The house, as designed, is 4,600 square feet.

“I feel completely relieved that it’s over and I can just build my house,” he said during an interview last week. “It’s been three years. So it’s a relief, but it’s also a little disturbing that the village just takes the position that they can do whatever they want.”

He said he hopes no one else has to go through the same process “because it’s extremely expensive and time consuming.”

He estimated that between attorney’s fees and paying architects, he spent nearly $200,000 and said that no matter the outcome, he would not have built an office “because nobody wants office space.”

Burnside lives in Sag Harbor and said 220 Hampton Road has always been an investment property.

He said he wasn’t trying to make any enemies or cause any undue tension with Southampton Village because he plans to develop other properties in the village.

“I get along very well with the building inspector there,” he said. “You know, I just want what’s entitled, and that’s it.”