On its face, the proposal before the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals was straightforward: The applicant — Prada CEO Gianfranco D’Attis and his wife, Surbhi — wanted to build a 2,900-square-foot home, a detached garage and swimming pool on a vacant .35-acre lot.
The catch, however, is the board would have had to grant a staggering 11 variances to allow for the project at 16 Gould Street, the East Hampton Star reported.
The board rejected the appeal.
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“It’s a long list of a substantial set of variances requested for a cleared site,” Joe Rose, a member of the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals, said, according to the outlet.
The D’Attises’ representative, Esteban Lopez, of the architecture and construction firm Arqui-Con, claimed the relief sought — including a 0.7-foot variance from the house to the side-lot line — was minor.
But the board members were unmoved, saying the 11 variances taken together were substantial and, if the requests were so minor, the D’Attises could simply build a home in compliance with the code.
Indeed, when the D’Attises purchased the property two years ago, they demolished a 2,300-square-foot home that was on it.
“In my opinion, you tore down a house, you need to comply. That’s my opinion on it,” board member Philip O’Connell said, according to the outlet.
Two village residents also wrote to the board objecting to the request, with one concerned that regrading the property would affect stormwater runoff.
The board declined to provide Lopez guidance with what variances it would accept.
“It’s too big an application on a cleared lot, and you want us to do the work and figure out what’s going to be acceptable. Frankly, I find it a little insulting,” board member Andrew Baris said.
“My advice to you is to start over,” board member Joe Rose said, according to the outlet.
— Ted Glanzer