The Sag Harbor Village Zoning Board of Appeals on Monday informally agreed to give the Schiavoni family a waiver from the moratorium on most development projects along the village waterfront for their plans to build a new commercial building at 31 Long Island Avenue.
Board members reached their decision after a 90-minute discussion, during which attorney Elizabeth Vail reminded them that they weren’t approving the application per se, only allowing it to be reviewed by the Planning Board.
The ZBA directed Vail to prepare a written decision that is expected to be approved at the December 21 meeting.
Under the application, VACS Enterprises Inc., David Schiavoni has proposed building a 4,311-square-foot building on the site of a structure that had been owned by his parents, Gabe and Diane Schiavoni, and torn down in 2008 as part of National Grid’s remediation of the old gas ball property next door.
The ZBA concluded that the application met all three of the broad conditions that the Village Board set to qualify for a waiver from the moratorium it imposed in August 2020 on most Planning Board applications. The moratorium targeted an area on both sides of Bay Street and Long Island Avenue, called the waterfront overlay district, while village officials worked on updating the zoning code to better protect both visual and physical access to the waterfront.
The ZBA agreed that the Schiavonis had suffered a hardship in being delayed by the moratorium that was greater than any hardship that could affect the general public if they were allowed to proceed.
It also agreed that the proposal would not have any adverse impacts on any of the seven goals outlined in a village planning study accompanying the rezoning effort, because any such concerns would be weighed by the appropriate review board during the review process for the application.
Finally, the ZBA agreed that the proposal for a similar sized building would be in harmony with the character of the village.
“The only matter before you is the moratorium,” Vail told the board, as members raised questions about whether they could impose conditions on the waiver. “Anything relating to the application would be applied to the site plan.”
Florio also reminded board members that “today’s discussion is not about the future of the building,” as they began to ask questions about the actual design being proposed.
Member Scott Baker expressed concern that the Schiavonis had proposed using the building for a convenience store — they have said they have a tentative deal with 7-Eleven to move there — when such retail uses are not legal in the office district. But Vail said that was a determination that would be up for the ZBA to consider when the formal application was reviewed.
After they razed their original building, a repurposed U.S. Army barracks, in 2008, the Schiavonis have relied on a letter from former Village Attorney Fred W. Thiele Jr. assuring them they would be given a building permit to rebuild the same size building and not have to provide additional parking spaces.
The Schiavonis’ attorney, Dennis Downes, has argued that because the building had retail uses in the past, those uses must be grandfathered in.
Last August, the Schiavonis seemed to be on the verge of receiving a waiver from the moratorium, but at a September hearing, attorneys Tiffany Scarlato and Alex Kriegsman, both representing neighboring property owners, spoke in opposition.
The ZBA continued the hearing for another month and accepted written testimony from attorneys on both sides until mid-November. But when the ZBA convened for its formal meeting last month, only three members were present, and Downes requested an adjournment until a full board was present, which was the case at this week’s work session.
The Schiavonis have long complained that they have waited seven years to be given permission to rebuild, but instead of seeking a building permit to rebuild in place and in kind, they first proposed a three-story building and later a two-story building. Even their current plan is not for a replica of the old building, because it will be about 10 feet taller and have an attic space.
Those plans were ensnared by a moratorium that has been extended several times and is currently scheduled to expire March 1, when the Village Board expects to have the new zoning in place for the waterfront overlay district.
Stephen J. Kotz on Dec 7, 2021