Spanburgh: Pond Lane Application Curiously Pre-Approved

Here is a summary of what happened at the Southampton Village Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review public hearing on Monday. All board members and consultants were present. The next public hearing will be June 27 at 7 p.m. at .

Applications within an Historic District:

1. Vincent Camuto, 16 Gin Lane: repair and reinforce existing brick retaining wall surrounding part of the property. Adjourned by applicant.

2. Marianne Lafiteau, 240 Hill Street: build a 575-square-foot one-story addition. The architect presented the application. The design was modified so that the front porch will be extended across the front of the new addition and its details will match the existing porch, the height of the addition has been reduced by one foot, and the windows were lowered. The board believed the new design to be a big improvement over the last scheme. Adjourned for written decision.

3. FKA LLC, 129 Halsey Neck Lane: build a 518-square-foot addition to the guest cottage. Approved.

4. John Howard, 218 Pond Lane: reconstruct two-story guest house and construct two 2-car garages. The architect, John David Rose, presented the application and it was interesting. There were no changes to the submitted drawings and board member Hamilton Hoge said he viewed the site and did not have any objections. Board member Brian Brady was not present at the last ARB hearing but remarkably, in anticipation of a positive board consensus, there was already a written decision prepared and ready in the file. Usually, the application is approved, but the written decision is not ready until the following meeting. In all the time I’ve been attending ARB meetings, a written decision has never been prepared in advance. Coupled with the fact that I did not know about this application until arriving at the last ARB public hearing, it naturally makes me curious: Does the village bow to Rose? Or, who is John Howard? Approved.

Applications outside of an Historic District:

1. Andre Barnowski, 199 Halsey Neck Lane: change exterior finish from stucco to shingles. No one was present to represent the application. Adjourned due to lack of representation.

2. Tom & Sandra Luss, 200 Little Plains Road: build a covered front port, and attached garage, and an addition above the garage. The architect made the presentation. There were modifications made since the last meeting that were very minor. The board members did not offer many comments. Approved.

3. JGFIII Family Realty LLC, 280 North Sea Road: build a 3,053-square-foot house with a 642-square-foot attached garage. A representative from the attorney’s office, the architect, and Kristin Farrell presented the application. The issues raised at the last meeting were addressed but screening of the property was missing. Adjourned.

4. Dr. Christoph Poeppinghaus, 86 Post Lane: build 617-square-foot second-floor addition on rear wing of house. Will Schulz, the architect, presented the application. The board was fully in favor of this application. Approved.

5. Thomas & Claire O’Connor, 59 Pierpont Street: build second-story addition over main body of house and one-story southern sun room. The architect presented the application. He began by stating that three of the notifications to the neighbors had been “returned to sender” but the ARB did not express concern or a desire to have them. He also said there had been comments received about the area calculations of the proposed addition/work but that at 3 that afternoon Chief Building Inspector Jon Foster,signed off on the proposed area calculations. So the review of the aesthetics of the project followed. Only Brady had any questions: regarding the roof over the southern sun room, and the small window sizes on the first story. None of the other board members expressed any concerns. Approved.

6. , LLC, 34 Nugent Street (): exterior alterations. The owner and architect presented the application, but submitted new drawings during the hearing due to comments received from a neighbor. The ARB members liked the revised proposal very much. Approved.