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By Kathryn G. Menu
The Sag Harbor Village Board of Trustees introduced a law last week that would remove its authority to grant special permits to property owners with plans that exceed the maximum gross floor area, or GFA, allowed under the zoning code. According to Sag Harbor Village Clerk Beth Kamper, those applicants would be directed to seek a variance from the village Zoning Board of Appeals instead.
A public hearing on the change in law will be held at the board’s next meeting on March 14.
In April 2016, the village board adopted revisions to its zoning code that placed restrictions on the size of houses based on the size of their building lots. The code mandated that for a lot of 6,250 square feet or less, a house cannot be larger than 2,500 square feet. For lots 25,000 square feet and larger, a house can’t exceed 4,000 square feet, and in between those lot sizes, a sliding scale determines the square footage of a residence. A parcel with a lot area of 15,000 square feet, for example, can have a home of 3,200 square feet.
Included among the laws adopted in April was a provision allowing residents to petition the village board for exemptions from the limits imposed by the GFA law.
The new law being considered now removes from the trustees the right to offer that relief. If the law is adopted, a property owner whose application does not meet the maximum square footage under the code, would be allowed instead to petition the Zoning Board of Appeals for relief through a variance, as is the case with other instances in which building plans do not meet the limits imposed by the zoning code, explained Ms. Kamper.
The March 14 public hearing will be held at 6 p.m. in the second floor meeting room of the Municipal Building on Main Street.
on Feb 23, 2017