Government

Greenport ZBA: Kaplan’s Market has one month to satisfy the village or lose variance

Five years after the owner of Kaplan’s Market won special Greenport Village approval for a limited light industrial use, that approval has been rescinded.

The village zoning board of appeals yanked the variance by a unanimous vote last week, but property owner Jeff Gordon has until Sept. 22 to comply with requirements and keep the approval in place.

It’s that one-month delay that has neighbor Margaret Richards worried. She and Kenneth Mac Alpin, who occupy the house immediately north of the market, have been embroiled in a long battle with Mr. Gordon. The couple maintains that Mr. Gordon has failed to bring the building into compliance and complain that village building inspector Eileen Wingate has waived requirements for some building changes they think should be made. Among them is failing to remove a window overlooking their property.

Ms. Wingate maintains Mr. Gordon has complied with all requirements, except for filing necessary covenants and restrictions.

“He did everything except the C&Rs,” Ms. Wingate said last month. She and other village officials have been unable to reach Mr. Gordon. A telephone number he supplied is no longer in service and an attorney who represented him through some of the earlier proceedings no longer is retained by the property owner.

If the ZBA’s conditions are not met by the Sept. deadline the premises would revert to R2 residential use.

In other ZBA actions:

• An application from James Olinkiewicz was tabled after a public hearing that was adjourned to give board members an opportunity to examine a revised site plan for a subdivision at 314 Center St. The property is the same plot that the now defunct Community Land Trust of Southold tried to develop before its deal to buy the property fell through. Mr. Olinkiewicz’s plans call for creating two lots, one with a one-family residence and the other four housing units.

• Board members unanimously approved an application from one of its own members, Charles Benjamin, who with his wife, Sarah, seeks a variance on their property at 230 Third St. to enlarge their house to accommodate a larger dining space. They also plan to eliminate a shed and greenhouse and replace both with a larger shed.

• The board approved Sigrid Burton’s request to enlarge a second floor deck at 210 Main Street to accommodate a new fence. The fence is meant to mitigate noise from a rear garden seating area of the adjacent Sasuke restaurant.

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