There is a good reason why the small fishing town, Montauk, fills with tourists and visitors every summer. Cherished for its beautiful beaches, hiking opportunities, and wealth of delicious restaurants, Montauk is a quaint town with a lot of charm, and it is just about to get a little more charming. Making space between two resorts on the north side of Old Montauk Highway in Montauk, the smallest motel on the South Fork is coming soon.
But in an area where loads of people flock to during the warmer months, why would someone go so small?
In this case, owner James Howard made the decision to develop a single-unit motel out of necessity.
“In my 20 years of doing this, this is one of the weirdest applications I’ve come across,” Tara Burke, a land planner representing Howard, the owner of 697 Old Montauk Highway, told the East Hampton Town Planning Board last week.
Ed Jrug, a member of the planning board, expressed, “This definitely answers the question of what you do when you own a quasi-landlocked parcel in a resort zone that is one-tenth the size of the minimum lot size… Who knew you could have a one-unit motel?”
Zoning a Nonconforming Parcel
Zoning such a nonconforming parcel raised some questions, but the one-unit motel fits the zoning code because it does not have a set minimum size for a resort.
The tiny plot of land in question, filling out on .19 of an acre of land, pre-exists zoning, and, just like all things surrounding this application are unusual, is surrounded by other parcels on all sides, making the only way into the small motel possible via a “floating” 20-foot side easement.
Yet, the comfort of the 997-square-foot motel is less of a concern than how this easement might work, as it could be one of the most challenging aspects of the application. This is because it requires the assistance of one of its neighboring resorts, Atlantic Bluffs Club, which would have to share its driveway with the tiny motel.
Assuming the motel guests, referred to as “The Howards” on the application, can pull in, they will be welcomed into a two-bedroom resort unit. In front of the Howards will be a 375-square-foot swimming pool and pool terrace. Guests will also find outdoor showers on either side of the tiny motel.
But can guests pull out of the driveway when they need to leave The Howards?
Board member Michael Hanson stated that the very constrained and steeply sloped driveway may be challenging to navigate, but someone else joked, “We have backup cameras now. It’s all good.”
“It’s a humorous thought that it’s a floating access, but there are serious practical issues we have to deal with,” said the planning board chairman Samuel Kramer. Chief among them is emergency vehicle access.
“We’ll have to talk to Atlantic Bluffs,” said Ms. Burke. “Our goal is to work with them. They have to allow us access. Our intent is to disrupt their current usage as little as possible.”
Blending in Despite Setbacks
Other setbacks to the Howards’ application, some of which were only five feet from lot lines as proposed, could have raised more concerns. While the planning board has the authority to waive setbacks in a commercial zone, since the property is already surrounded by similar uses, no board member took issues with other setbacks.
“I see it as a premium unit of the existing two resort areas on either side,” said Louis Cortese, a board member, perhaps only half-kidding. “It’s really blending into what’s there already. As far as the residential area to the north, I think it’s far enough away and well-buffered.”
The board’s vice chair, Sharon McCobb, stated that, due to the singular nature of the application, the applicant’s goal last week was simply to make sure it was a viable plan. Because of the inventive manner in which this land will be used, the planning board intends to move forward, with money being spent to develop a grading, drainage, and lighting plan.
“It is utterly unique,” said Mr. Kramer.
