Building Boom Off Route 114 in Sag Harbor

By Douglas Feiden

More than a dozen large-scale development projects have rapidly been transforming the traditionally small-scale communities of Ninevah Beach, Sag Harbor Hills and Azurest over the past year — and at least two more hyper-luxurious projects are on the way in the historically African-American enclaves.

After a public hearing, the Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review on Thursday, October 13, approved a five-bedroom, five-bath, 3,694-square-foot house at 3 Taft Place in Ninevah that boasts three covered porches, a house roof deck, garage roof deck, mud room, powder room and recreation room.

Homeowners Steve Schucker and Jen Proudman plan a two-story dwelling graced with finished basement, master walk-in closets, a 1,300-square-foot terrace, a 1,144 square-foot gunite swimming pool, a recessed 6-foot-by-6-foot hot tub, an outdoor shower — and a 200-square-foot pool house complete with cathedral ceiling.

“There was no reason not to approve it,” said ARB Chairman Anthony Brandt. “We gave ample opportunity for objections. On the board, some of us thought it was a bit bulky in appearance, but it's not in the historic district, and the fact of its size being close to the size of other properties in the area spoke in its favor."

Residents of the three side-by-side neighborhoods between State Route 114 and Sag Harbor Bay have been an ever-increasing presence at village board meetings in recent months. They’ve often aired opposition or concern over property purchases, combined lots — and what some view as over-development and speculation in an area typically known for half-century-old ranch homes on more modest parcels.

That unrest was on display when the ARB took up an item of new business, a proposal to construct an 18-foot-by-50-foot, mirror-top, ozonated-and-heated swimming pool on a combined water-facing lot at 116, 110 and 106 Hillside Drive East in Sag Harbor Hills.

The application from the homeowner, Mile High Partners LLC, was for a Certificate of Appropriateness, which is needed to obtain building permits, for what was described as a “corner, negative-edge pool.”

Typically found in high-end resorts, a corner, negative-edge is designed so that one side is lower than the water level, which channels the water flow into a long spillway, or catch basin. That creates the visual illusion of water with no boundaries — and makes it appear that the pool’s water flows directly into a larger neighboring body of water, in this case, Sag Harbor Bay.

While the pool was the immediate issue on the ARB’s agenda, area residents have closely scrutinized the plan because they have other concerns about the three combined Hillside Drive East parcels, which would be merged with a fourth lot to the east, on Lincoln Street in Ninevah, according to an earlier application.

The principals of Mile High Partners are Robert Kapito, a co-investor in other Sag Harbor properties and the president of BlackRock, the world’s largest investment management firm, and his wife, Ellen Kapito.

In April, the Kapitos proposed a 5,900-square-foot home on the assemblage — which dead-ends at the water, a mile east of the breakwater — and the preliminary plans called for a two-story, water-facing residence with at least six bedrooms and six baths, a master deck, covered porch, pool, pool house, terracing and a detached gym and garage.

Unless altered, which has been discussed, a version of those plans are expected to come before the ARB as a formal application, and a public hearing will later be held.

In the meantime, architect Peter Cook made a brief presentation on the pool and answered a few questions from the board about landscaping and screening. The ARB then voted to approve the proposal.

At the point, Renee V. H. Simons, a Sag Harbor Hills activist who lives next door to the Kapito property, saying she thought she’d have a chance to speak before the ruling, stood up to protest, arguing that a large portion of the parcel was on a wetlands, and that the pool would be too close to a slight bluff nearby.

“How can this even go forward when it’s on the wetlands?” she demanded. “How can they build on the wetlands?" And Ms. Simons later added, “The approval process did not work here.”

Mr. Brandt later disputed that point, saying, “Nothing really broke down. Wetlands are not in our jurisdiction, we know nothing about them, and we cannot rule on them if they come into play.”

He added, “Our jurisdiction is architecture, buildings, and — and I wish it otherwise — swimming pools. Some of us hate swimming pools. But we have to rule on them, and we approve of them if we cannot find a reason not to.”

So is the property in the wetlands? And does it sit too close to the bluff?

Tom Preiato, the village's senior building inspector, said he would be meeting shortly with Denise Schoen, the Harbor Committee’s attorney, to determine if that panel has jurisdiction or not.

Added Harbor Committee Chairman John Shaka, “Applications are forwarded to the HC by the Building Department when it is deemed that the HC has jurisdiction.  In this case, I do not yet know if the HC has jurisdiction, and it is not my determination to make.”

Similarly, Mr. Shaka said he doesn’t know if the pool is sited too close to the bluff, adding that Mr. Preiato has said he’ll be looking at the position of the bluff relative to the proposal.

Typically, the ARB is the last regulatory panel to rule on a proposal, and the Harbor Committee usually precedes it. But that doesn’t preclude the order from being reversed.

The Harbor Committee’s jurisdictional line extends to any activity up to 150 feet from the wetlands, and any activity within 100 feet of a bluff, Mr. Shaka said.