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Proposed Greenport hotel changes plans to address concerns

In an attempt to address the concerns of the Greenport Village Planning Board, the developers behind a proposed hotel on the corner of Front and Third streets have agreed to make adjustments to their existing plans.

Those changes include adding planters and trees to improve the landscaping, widening a delivery ramp and rerouting the loading zone to the east on the property.

“It looks like you made all changes we requested,” said Planning Board chairman Devin McMahon, who offered support for the proposal and said it will likely be voted on at the board’s May 4 meeting. “I think this layout makes a little more sense.”

Additionally, the Planning Board discussed setting restrictions on use of a proposed rooftop bar. Dan Pennessi of SAKD Holdings, the company behind the proposal, said that space would only be open to hotel guests.

A 60-seat restaurant would be on the ground level of the proposed building and 16 hotel rooms would be located on a second and third level.

Originally proposed in Nov. 2015, the building plans received numerous variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals this past December.

The proposed building, which would sit at the southeast corner of Front and Third streets, had six variances approved and moved forward with just 10 off-street parking spaces rather than the 30 required under the village code.

The other five variances approved by the ZBA in December included a request to allow a third story on the building, for lot coverage 1.6 percent over the code limit, and building height variances to allow for an air conditioning unit, elevator bulkhead and a trellis above the 35-foot maximum allowed under the code.

Neighboring businesses raised concerns that hotel guests would park in their lots since the proposal doesn’t include adequate parking and sits on less than a third of an acre.

Mr. Pennessi said at a March Planning Board meeting that they’ve shrunk the proposed building by about 1,000 square feet in response to these concerns, and that a traffic study done for the project indicated it will have little impact on traffic and parking.

Photo Caption: Dan Pennessi, president of SAKD Holdings, at Thursday’s planning board meeting (Credit: Nicole Smith).

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