RACHEL YOUNG PHOTO | A view of Peconic Bay from Sterling Street in Greenport.
Former Greenport mayor David Kapell, who retired from office in 2007 and currently works as a real estate agent, wants to build a two-story yacht club on Sterling Street in Greenport. But before he submits an application for site plan approval, the Greenport Planning Board said it wants an idea of what the proposed building will look like and exactly how the property will be used.
During an application pre-submission conference held at the Greenport Planning Board’s Thursday work session at Greenport Fire Department, board members discussed their concerns as to how the structure Mr. Kapell hopes to build on a 25-foot deep lot facing the water might infringe residents’ view of Peconic Bay.
“This is a very small piece of property and it’s separated from the other side of the street,” board member Lynn Atkinson-Loveless added. “It might seem very imposing and have a very big impact on that neighborhood in terms of changing what’s there.”
Mr. Kapell said the building would sit six feet back from Sterling Street. To maximize parking, the structure would be built eight feet off the ground, allowing cars to park underneath it, he said.
The Sterling Street lot where Mr. Kapell proposed to build is owned by Osprey Zone LLC, a private holding company. Paul Henry, who attended the meeting with Mr. Kapell, is the principal agent of the company, which also owns a marina on the property that currently rents boat storage space to eight tenants, Mr. Henry said.
Both men live in Greenport.
When board member Lynn Atkinson-Loveless said she was confused as to how the proposed yacht club would be used, Mr. Kappell told her he envisions having a restroom and shower facilities, storage space, an ice-making facility and marina office. The men said they’d also like to create a sort of common room for yacht club members on the building’s second floor — a place for people who store their boats at Osprey Zone’s marina to “congregate, socialize and relax,” Mr. Henry said. He added that he and Mr. Kapell have no plans to operate a restaurant, construct a bar or serve alcohol in the building.
At the meeting’s conclusion, board members said they hoped Mr. Kapell and Mr. Henry would present a thorough application for site plan approval.
“I think that we’ve made our points and what we hope to see on the application,” Ms. Atkinson-Loveless told the men. “We don’t have it yet, so we’re trying to give you a sense of what our concerns are.”
Standing outside the firehouse following the meeting, Mr. Henry said he thought what the planning board told him and Mr. Kapell was “informative.”
“It gives us some homework,” he said. “I feel like we’re all on the same page.”