Sag Harbor Village Board Looks To Rescind Measure Giving It Authority Over Some Special Permits

The Sag Harbor Village Board is expected to rescind a measure giving the Village Board authority to issue special exception permits for major projects in the waterfront overlay district when it meets on Tuesday, September 12.

The change to the village zoning code was adopted during the administration of former Mayor Jim Larocca at the time Bay Street Theater was considering building a new theater at the site now occupied by Water Street Shops and the concern of other development along the village waterfront was in the air.

But new Mayor Tom Gardella, who, along with the rest of the board, had supported the measure giving the Village Board the authority to issue special exception permits for projects that involved at least 3,500 square feet of construction, said he is not comfortable taking authority away from the Planning Board.

“I have a different perspective on how the village government should work as opposed to the previous administration,” he said. “It’s all about trust — trusting in the boards, which are made up of capable people. They are all members of our community and in some cases they have been there longer than the elected officials.”

Even though the code would allow any village review board to veto a project by voting against it, Gardella said having the Village Board weigh in could color their review.

“Politics should not be part of the review process,” he said. “As the board, we set the stage. We pass the code and adopt legislation and put down the template for the best course for the village and let the boards do their job.”

The three board members, who were in office when the change was adopted, said they agreed with Gardella.

“It may sound contradictory, because we did vote for it,” said Trustee Bob Plumb, who added that some of that support may have been because the board wanted “to be cohesive” as it adopted stricter standards for the Waterfront Overlay District.

But he added that board members soon discovered an unintended consequence: If board members publicly announced opposition to a project they were expected to review, it would be easy for an applicant’s attorney to require them to recuse themselves from participating.

“We couldn’t express an opinion on anything that was before us,” he said. “We were not allowed to discuss it in public. We were completely muzzled.”

Trustee Aidan Corish concurred. “In reality, it was a gag order,” he said. “We couldn’t express an opinion on applications because we were part of the oversight process.”

Corish said he had supported the initial rule change for two reasons. “The positive thing was if a law like this had been in place, something like the Bialsky towers would not be in place,” he said of three brick condominium buildings on West Water Street that have drawn sharp criticism. The second involved the potential for volunteer members of village review boards to be held liable in court for their decisions.

“As elected representatives of the people, we need the right to talk,” Corish said. “In retrospect, I think there’s a healthy divide there.”

Grease Trap Regulations

The board will also hold a hearing on new, tougher regulations for restaurants that fail to maintain their grease traps.

Under the new law, a restaurant found in violation could be fined up to $1,000 per day and be held responsible for the cost of repairing blockages caused by grease buildups in the sewer line, which would typically involve opening a trench on the sidewalk or in the street to gain access to the pipe.

The village has the authority to disconnect a repeat offender, but Corish said that is easier said than done. “There’s no faucet to turn off,” he said, adding that it was not the village’s goal to punish businesses but to get them to comply with the code.

Corish said the village had invited restaurant owners to attend Tuesday’s meeting, where Mark Wagner of Cameron Engineering, the village’s consultant, will make a presentation on the new regulations.

The board will also continue hearings on lot clearing legislation and a proposed rental registry at Tuesday’s meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at the Municipal Building.