The Sports East Fitness Club proposal was scuttled today by the Southold ZBA, which ruled that the plan does not meet the town code’s definition of a membership club and therefore is not an allowed use in the RB-80 zoning use district.
The proposal is instead one for a commercial recreational facility, the ZBA ruled today, and is therefore not permitted on the proposed site.
The town code defines a membership club as one having the principal purpose of engaging in outdoor sports, and a recreational facility as having predominantly outdoor activities, according to a six-page statement read aloud by ZBA chairperson Leslie Weisman. A commercial recreational facility is defined by code as an indoor or outdoor privately operated business “involving playing fields, courts, arenas or halls designed to accommodate sports and recreational activities,” the statement said.
“The vast majority of the activities proposed to be taking place at Sports East would occur inside the building,” according to the statement. Therefore, the ZBA determined that it could not be defined as an establishment principally for outdoor sports.
After the board voted unanimously to approve the ruling, Sports East developer Paul Pawlowski left the building.
“All three were supported and endorsed by the planning board in all initial stages so that’s what’s not adding up,” an exasperated Pawlowski said in an interview outside the meeting room, where he launched into a speech about what had just happened.
“The town needs to really look at themselves in the mirror and say you know, you have a willing and able applicant willing to do something good for the town and instead of finding ways not to allow it, find ways to make it happen because you don’t have this opportunity every day. You just don’t,” he said. “And you know it’s very strange that through the work force housing and this whole past year when we were advocating for this, the higher-ups in the town never reached back out to us,” he said.
“As far as the ZBA, they have a job to do. I will go so far as to say they have extremely selective ways of deciding things because if you look at the history of special exceptions it’s definitely not consistent,” he said. “As far as the planning board, I do feel bad for them because all three of which they endorsed.
“The only thing I don’t feel bad about is the question that was answered today is the first question I asked before I spent one dollar,” Pawlowski said. “Between all three proposals I’m into this for over $300,000, all of which from the very first sketch was designed and talked about and very well-vetted with the planning board. So where I lose a ton of respect is that all of these questions were asked before money was spent and all of these … you know, as a developer I go in and I say, ‘Will this fly?’ And if it doesn’t, tell me today. I have no problem going to another idea,” he said.
“So, my challenge to this town — and I really want this — is find property where you want workforce housing. Find property where you want a private sports club for your residents and you have a willing and able applicant. But I’m going to go as far as saying they will not put that effort in and that’s what’s alarming,” Pawlowski said.
According to the findings, the plans for Sports East include 68,040 sq. ft. of outdoor space for playing sports and 140,000 sq. ft. of indoor space.
The site is located on a wooded 21-acre site on the south side of Route 25 west of Sigsbee Road. The site is in the RB-80 zoning use district. Prior to the Sports East proposal, Pawlowski had proposed building a mixed-use complex consisting of ground floor retail uses and second-story workforce apartments. That proposal required a change of zone. The Sports East proposal hinged on the ZBA’s interpretation.
Pawlowski had already had a public hearing before the ZBA on his application for a special exception use — required for the construction of a membership club in the RB-80 zone — and before the Planning Board for a hearing on the site plan. A membership club, as defined in the code, is an allowed use in the RB-80 district.
