Government

Six residential lots proposed for Cutchogue property

The owner of more than 84 Soundfront acres on Oregon Road in Cutchogue is seeking to divide the property into six residential lots and two agricultural lots, according to an application before the Southold Town Planning Board.

Big Bing LLC & Little Bing LLC is applying for a conservation subdivision on the 84.7-acre tract, where two large farms currently sit side by side.

The applicant plans to preserve 75 percent of the land. Houses may be built on the residential parcels, but the applicant will sell the agricultural land’s development rights to Suffolk County.

A conditional sketch plan approval expired Feb. 15 but the Planning Board granted an extension during a public hearing Monday night.

The Cutchogue Fire District is requiring that the access road be 26 feet wide and designed to support 75,000 pounds. The Planning Board staff recommended a 50-foot-wide non-disturbance buffer and 50-foot-wide vegetative buffer with existing trees within the buffer to be preserved. For five of the six residential lots, they also recommended clearing of no more than 20 percent, leaving the remaining vegetated areas in their natural state.

“The reason is that this is a very severe slope, highly erosive and unstable,” said assistant town planning director Mark Terry.

The applicant’s attorney, Pat Moore, said that the property owners would want the residential lots to have a view of Long Island Sound and that trees can actually cause harm because of soil movement.

“I think there has to be some way of manipulating the trees that are there and in some way trimmed,” Ms. Moore said.

“There has to be enough ability to be able to see the water. It is a very valuable piece of property.”

Chairman Donald Wilcenski said the Planning Board will conduct a site visit to review the property and the staff report.

The applicant first applied in January 2015. Ms. Moore said she will confer with her client about the recommendations and return for a work session next month.<Bf”Agenda”>

Fishers Island Surf Shack

The Fishers Island Surf Shack, 956 Montauk Ave., is looking to convert a pre-existing three-family dwelling into a two-family house with a retail surf shop on the first floor.

The deed for this property was sold by Stephen Wells to Fishers Surf Shack LLC, a Manhattan-based company, in October, according to Southold Town records.

The company submitted an application to the Southold Zoning Board of Appeals to make alterations to the property, which include a 900-square-foot retail space to sell surfboards, boogie boards, and other aquatic sport and recreation gear, as well as sunscreen, flotation devices and other beach needs.

The property is in the B (Business) Zoning District and, according to town code, it is mandatory for the owners to occupy the property. Fishers Island Surf Shack applied for a variance so that it does not have to comply with that law, but it was denied by the building department in December.

There are no proposed changes to the size of the building or the exterior.

Members of the Planning Board said they would visit the area and inspect it to help make a decision on whether the variance should be permitted. The application will need site plan approval by the board as well. The ZBA requested a comment from the Planning Board on the proposal, but a decision is not due until May.

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