A public hearing last week brought forth lots of concerns about a recent expansion of East Hampton hotel The Baker House Inn to include a carriage house behind the property. The rather innocuous building has stood along Main Street since 1648, and was turned into an elegant hotel in 1996, despite being in a residential zone where no new bed and breakfasts are allowed. An LLC created by the hotel's owners bought a nearby home last year and they recently promoted it as 'a guest house with full hotel services', something which brought the wrath of the neighborhood upon them. Many showed up to the hearing with complaints about everything from parking spots to transparency of village laws. Addressing worries about additional traffic and deliveries to the new location, the Village is now changing a code that, until recently, 'did not specify that a "residence" is a place where people live and "not a place that is inhabited on a transient basis by serial tenants".' The Baker House Inn, wary of its neighbors, is said to be cooperating with the village.
· Village Moves Close to Guest House Loophole [EH Star]
· The Baker House Inn [Official Site]