East Hampton Town lawmakers are considering legislation that would designate more than a dozen 18th and 19th century homes scattered throughout East Hampton as landmarks, protecting them from demolition or substantial alteration—in exchange for allowing future property owners to construct a second, much larger home on the property.
Historic preservation consultant Robert Hefner presented the plan to the Town Board on Tuesday, along with the histories of the 13 homes he suggested could be the first to be designated landmarks, saying that designating each one may well be the only way to protect them from being demolished to make way for modern homes.
Mr. Hefner highlighted the so-called Zadoc Bennett House on Three Mile Harbor Road, more commonly known as the home of Pig Pen Produce. The house, which dates to the 18th century, is just 1,500 square feet but sits on 2.3 acres of land—which could host a house of some 11,000 square feet under town zoning.
“The current house would, without question, be torn down,” Mr. Hefner told Town Board members at Tuesday’s board work session. “Designating this house as a historic landmark and allowing it to be used as a guesthouse is the only way to ensure it will not be torn down in the future.”
Also among the homes Mr. Hefner highlighted were “Willow Hill” on Old Stone Highway, the Judge Vernon Davis House on Indian Wells Highway, and a home built by renowned local cabinet maker Nathaniel Dominy V.
If adopted, the new landmarks designations would require that the historic structures be preserved largely in their original state and setting, though they could be altered or relocated on the property with approval from the town’s Architectural Review Board.
In exchange, the property would be given an allowance for a guesthouse, whereas town zoning currently prohibits two residences on a single property. The guesthouse’s total square footage would be deducted from the allowable gross floor area on a property, with any new structures using the remainder.
The proposed landmarks program parallels one adopted by East Hampton Village in 2013, which designated 23 historic homes as landmarks in exchange for the guesthouse allowance.
Town attorneys have already drafted legislation to add the individual landmarks law into town code and Mr. Hefner and town officials have contacted the owners of each of the houses about the proposal and what limitations it would place on their homes.
Board members seemed largely welcoming of the proposal at first blush.
“It’s a very innovative approach to preserving these houses,” Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc said. “I appreciate that this would allow the property owner to maintain the existing house and still have a more modern house on the property.”
27east on Aug 15, 2017