The saga of 55 Wainscott Hollow Road continues. To recap: developer Jeffrey Collé bought the 40 acres of farmland from Ronald Lauder for $26M back in 2006. He wanted to build a 14,000sf mansion on the property, which neighbors hated. He was denied the permit back in 2009 and then sued. He won the lawsuit, but then said the buyer of the big house had lost interest.
Neighbors preferred the idea of subdividing the property into smaller parcels with smaller houses, with about 70% of the land left agricultural. Ever since then, the planning board, neighbors, and Wainscott Hollow LLC (the registered owner of the land) have clashed over plans to arrange the various building lots.
A public hearing was held a week ago regarding the latest proposal, which as you can see from our sketch above includes seven house lots from a half-acre to 2.5 acres. Neighbors are dismayed. People living near Lot 7 hate the plans. According to the East Hampton Press, "I never imagined myself as being someone saying, 'Not in my backyard.' In this case it's literally true," homeowner and architect Robert Kahn said. "The house is placed in the corner of a field, standing alone, and it's without context. The size is overwhelming. It would be a whopping 16 times bigger than our home, and that doesn't include the pool, the pool house, the tennis court or the basement." Neighbors of Lots 4, 5, and 6 say their placement destroys farmland vistas.
The upshot, so far, is that no one is happy.
· Neighbors Unhappy About Wainscott Hollow Road Subdivision Proposal [27E]
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