Stop-Work Orders Reversed For BOE Trustee

The Huntington Bay Board of Zoning Appeals reversed two stop-work orders for violations at the home of Huntington Board of Education member John Paci and wife Kelly Ann at its meeting last week.

According to the first order of violation issued July 24, 2009 by Building Inspector Richard Kinch, work had commenced on a new bluestone patio "without the benefit of a building permit."

Another stop-work order was issued January 7, 2010 by Kinch after the building inspector compared topographic surveys of the Paci's Beach Road, 1.91-acre waterfront property located in the waterfront preservation zoning district C-1, and determined that fill had been brought in and the property had been graded, again "without the benefit of a permit." Mr. Paci testified that he had applied to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to do the filling and grading work and thought he was in compliance.

The Pacis had applied for a building permit in 2009 for installation of walkways, a patio, a sports court and an above-ground pool and indicated on the application that no contractor would be used.

After a planning board hearing in November 2009, at which some neighbors expressed concerns about several parts of the Paci's plans, an informational meeting was held.

The result was a request to build a cabana was dropped and the sports court location was moved six feet in toward the Paci property.

It was noted that the sports court would have a porous surface on top of stone to allay another neighbor's conern about flooding on his property where that is already a big problem. In addition, Paci said he had installed four wells in his backyard

Attorney Michael McCarthy testified that the location of an existing so-called jungle-gym playset that had been the source of some contention between the Paci's and a neighbor would be worked out as well. 

Concerns about the swimming pool location, considered to be in the front yard in the zoning district, were apparently allayed by the fact that the Paci's next-door neighbor has placed their swimming pool in the same place on Huntington Bay making it in character with the neighborhood.

The BZA members also expressed concern about whether a cottage that was left on the property by the daughters of August Heckscher when they subdivided the land had a valid of certificate of occupancy or a letter-in-liew of a C of O. McCarthy said that he thought a letter-in-lieu had been found in the village's files. Attorney for the village Mara Manin suggested the Paci's add a variance request for the cottage in the application as well. They agreed to do so.

A letter of denial was issued March 2, 2010 by Kinch for the violations as well as non-conformities in the WFP C-1. These included calculations that the existing lot frontage is 195 feet where 200 feet is required and that the existing side lots are 28- and 30-feet-wide where 100 feet total is required and at least 40 feet on one side is required, in addition to the stop-work order violations.