Southold streamlines zoning variance process for home additions

The Southold Town Board unanimously approved a zoning code change aimed at making it easier for the Zoning Board of Appeals to review applications for new homes and additions to existing homes.

The change, approved at the board’s Jan. 13 regular meeting, removes a requirement that the ZBA compare proposed home additions to the average size of neighboring houses when considering variance applications.

The previous requirement, part of the 2022 “big house” legislation, proved difficult to administer because calculating neighbors’ gross floor area under current town standards is complex, ZBA Chairwoman Leslie Weisman told the Town Board.

Under town code, rooms with cathedral ceilings over 15 feet high are counted as double their actual square footage when calculating a home’s gross floor area (GFA). That standard remains unchanged.

“If you happen to have a cathedral ceiling in your living room, the size of that living room is going to be counted double … in calculating that GFA,” Ms. Weisman explained.

She said the requirement to compare variance applications to neighborhood averages using that calculation method had become burdensome, forcing the ZBA to deny an application for a small addition to a home simply because it was difficult to determine the GFA of surrounding houses.

The change strikes 12 words from Chapter 280-207 of the town code, removing the phrase requiring variances not exceed “the average gross floor area of dwellings in the immediate area.”

“This will improve [the ZBA’s] ability to render decisions about house size that balance the reasonable rights of property owners with the welfare and character of the community,” Ms. Weisman told board members.

While Ms. Weisman supported the change, she said called it an “imperfect effort” that serves as an interim fix while the town works on a more comprehensive zoning code overhaul.

Southold resident and attorney Patricia Moore called the change “necessary,” but said it doesn’t address underlying issues with how the town calculates GFA, which she said penalizes homeowners with cathedral ceilings and attached garages.

“We have communities that have been developed since the 1600s … so imagine how many houses and now the generations that are coming along that need to improve [them],” Ms. Moore said. “We’re not talking about, you know, people coming in. And yes, we do have a lot of wealthy people coming in to demolish and rebuild. We also have a lot of local people that are trying to do some relatively minor … renovations or houses that are from the ’70s that need sprucing up.”

The town has spent much of the past four years working on a comprehensive zoning code update intended to make the code “more user-friendly.” The town continues its work on the update, with another draft loosely projected for March.

Supervisor Al Krupski said the Town Board is willing to consider other zoning code changes before the comprehensive update is completed. 

“I think the Town Board is also willing to consider changes outside of the zoning update, which is in year four, because … you know, we have to,” he said.