Sports East is back again, with a modified plan the developer says conforms to the zoning code requirements for a membership club.
The developer filed a revised application today with the Southold Zoning Board of Appeals, which earlier this month ruled a prior iteration of the plan did not comply with the code definition of a membership club. Since the “vast majority of the activities” on the site would be taking place inside the building,” the ZBA reasoned it could not be defined as an establishment principally for outdoor sports, as the code requires.
The wooded 21-acre site on the south side of Route 25, west of Sigsbee Road, is in the RB-80 zoning use district. A membership club is allowed in the RB-80 as a special exception use. A commercial recreational facility — which is what the ZBA on Dec. 1 labeled the Sports East plan before it — is not allowed in the RB-80 zone.
The new plan significantly scales back the size of the building — from 144,000 to 82,500 square feet — and shifts emphasis to outdoor activities.
“We have added for our members more outside activities, courts, fields, a par course and golf practice facility,” developer Paul Pawlowski said. “The outdoor amenities are now more than double the indoor amenities,” he said.
Indoors, Pawlowski said, the club will “still offer tennis courts, pickle ball courts, private food service, private gym and a pool.”
The first Sports East application was filed about a year ago. After a public hearing, the ZBA referred the application to the planning board for review, including a determination under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. The planning board’s approval of the site plan is also required.
After a public hearing, the planning board sent the application back to the ZBA to determine whether the contemplated use fit the definition of a membership club in the zoning code. On Dec. 1 the ZBA ruled that it did not.
