Shelter Island puts mega-mansions on pause with 6-month ban
Shelter Island Town Hall on Shelter Island. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
As plans for more mega-mansions pop up on Shelter Island, town officials have opted to call a timeout.
The town board on May 16 unanimously approved a six-month moratorium on special permits for single-family houses of more than 5,999 square feet, a pause officials say gives them time to reevaluate outdated zoning regulations.
“There have been large homes along the waterfront, but now they’re creeping everywhere,” said town attorney Stephen Kiely. “A lot of money is being dumped out here.”
Town officials said the moratorium is aimed at giving them time to evaluate the impact of mega-mansions on community character, the environment and water quality.
Councilman James Colligan said at the May 16 meeting that the top response he heard from residents when the board first took up the issue was: “What took you so long?”
Kiely, who proposed the moratorium in March, said the timing made sense since the board since 2020 has been doing an update to the town's comprehensive plan.
The town attorney said the special permit application falling under the town board’s purview is unique to Shelter Island. Typically, an applicant would apply for a variance before a zoning board of appeals, he said.
“To make matters worse, there were no specific standards in the town code applicable to large homes,” Kiely said. “So they were putting a square peg in a round hole trying to navigate these issues.”
Not everyone is happy about the moratorium.
Southampton attorney John Bennett said it unfairly targets a pending application of one of his clients to build an approximately 12,000-square-foot home on Serpentine Drive overlooking the bay near Crescent Beach.
“I understand when sometimes, within reason, there’s a need for a moratorium, but this is clearly not one of them,” he said.
Bennett said a moratorium should be reserved for when a municipality is being flooded with building applications.
“Where’s the emergency? Where’s the overwhelming number of applications?” he added.
Kiely said the moratorium was not enacted specifically in response to the Serpentine Drive application.
From 2018 to 2021, the town board received four applications for special permits for homes of 6,000 square feet or more, Kiely said. Last year, the figure jumped to five applications.
“In larger towns, that doesn’t seem like much, but in this town it is,” the town attorney said.
Shelter Island has a year-round population of around 3,200. Officials estimate the number swells to around 10,000 in the summer.
Under state law, the Suffolk County Planning Commission was required to review the moratorium, which the town originally pitched as 12 months. The town board scaled it back to six months based on the planning commission’s recommendation. After six months, the town board can consider extending it.
In an 8-4 vote, the planning commission recommended approval at its May 3 meeting, noting in a report that the moratorium was specific enough to “not restrict all development on any or all parcels within the town.”
Even if the planning commission did not recommend approval, the town board could have overridden the decision with a supermajority vote.
The moratorium also received support from the board of the Shelter Island Heights Property Owners Corporation, according to general manager Stella Lagudis.
As plans for more mega-mansions pop up on Shelter Island, town officials have opted to call a timeout.
The town board on May 16 unanimously approved a six-month moratorium on special permits for single-family houses of more than 5,999 square feet, a pause officials say gives them time to reevaluate outdated zoning regulations.
“There have been large homes along the waterfront, but now they’re creeping everywhere,” said town attorney Stephen Kiely. “A lot of money is being dumped out here.”
Town officials said the moratorium is aimed at giving them time to evaluate the impact of mega-mansions on community character, the environment and water quality.
Councilman James Colligan said at the May 16 meeting that the top response he heard from residents when the board first took up the issue was: “What took you so long?”
Kiely, who proposed the moratorium in March, said the timing made sense since the board since 2020 has been doing an update to the town's comprehensive plan.
The town attorney said the special permit application falling under the town board’s purview is unique to Shelter Island. Typically, an applicant would apply for a variance before a zoning board of appeals, he said.
“To make matters worse, there were no specific standards in the town code applicable to large homes,” Kiely said. “So they were putting a square peg in a round hole trying to navigate these issues.”
Not everyone is happy about the moratorium.
Southampton attorney John Bennett said it unfairly targets a pending application of one of his clients to build an approximately 12,000-square-foot home on Serpentine Drive overlooking the bay near Crescent Beach.
“I understand when sometimes, within reason, there’s a need for a moratorium, but this is clearly not one of them,” he said.
Bennett said a moratorium should be reserved for when a municipality is being flooded with building applications.
“Where’s the emergency? Where’s the overwhelming number of applications?” he added.
Kiely said the moratorium was not enacted specifically in response to the Serpentine Drive application.
From 2018 to 2021, the town board received four applications for special permits for homes of 6,000 square feet or more, Kiely said. Last year, the figure jumped to five applications.
“In larger towns, that doesn’t seem like much, but in this town it is,” the town attorney said.
Shelter Island has a year-round population of around 3,200. Officials estimate the number swells to around 10,000 in the summer.
Under state law, the Suffolk County Planning Commission was required to review the moratorium, which the town originally pitched as 12 months. The town board scaled it back to six months based on the planning commission’s recommendation. After six months, the town board can consider extending it.
In an 8-4 vote, the planning commission recommended approval at its May 3 meeting, noting in a report that the moratorium was specific enough to “not restrict all development on any or all parcels within the town.”
Even if the planning commission did not recommend approval, the town board could have overridden the decision with a supermajority vote.
The moratorium also received support from the board of the Shelter Island Heights Property Owners Corporation, according to general manager Stella Lagudis.
Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.
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