Harbor Committee Has Questions About Fill

Questions about whether it should approve the unauthorized addition of fill to the waterside property of a house at 188 Redwood Road occupied the Sag Harbor Harbor Committees attention on Monday.

Joshua Schwartz, through the application for 188 Redwood LLC, has been before the board in recent months, seeking permission to have a 2-foot-tall, 76-foot-long retaining wall in a buffer zone that was planted with native plants. The committee previously approved a new bulkhead along the waterfront, but members balked at the need for a second retaining wall, arguing that Mr. Schwartz had added fill without a permit.

Thats important, the boards environmental consultant, Richard Warren, said, because what you are doing here is changing the flood plain.

On Tuesday, Mr. Schwartzs attorney, Dennis Downes, told the board that when earlier work was done at the property, about 50 yards of sandy fill was excavated and spread over the existing lawn. Another 10 yards of topsoil were added.

The committees chairman, Steven Clarke, had scolded Mr. Schwartz at an earlier meeting for putting in the fill and said on Tuesday he was not inclined to sign off on letting it stand.

We had lots of discussions with him about the project, Mr. Clarke said. I personally dont cut him any slack on that aspect at all.

Mr. Clarke proposed a compromise that would allow Mr. Schwartz to keep some of the fill and simply regrade it down to the buffer zone, eliminating the need for any retaining wall at all. When Mr. Downes protested that would punish his client, Mr. Clarke replied, The punishment in this situation would be to make him start over again without any additional fill.

The irony is he is asking for a retaining wall to protect stuff he put in without asking us, added member Tom Halten.

The committee tabled the matter and will revisit it at its next meeting.

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Harbor Committee Has Questions About Fill