Owner offers large revegetation and conservation easement to gain approval for lap pool near wetlands

At a May 19 hearing the East Hampton Zoning Board of Appeals heard an application for a lap pool and related accessory work at 24 Oyster Shores Road, a corner waterfront parcel containing title wetlands.

Attorney John Huber, representing owner Howard Morris, told the board the project is designed to avoid any wetland disturbance and delivers "substantial net environmental benefit" through large‑scale revegetation and a proposed conservation easement that would cover roughly 10,800 square feet. "No wetlands will be disturbed," Huber said, and he noted the project had received New York State Department of Environmental Conservation review of title wetlands.

Huber described the pool as a modest, low‑profile 8‑by‑41‑foot lap pool intended for exercise, not a deep luxury pool, and said the plan would replace thousands of square feet of maintained lawn with native species to improve runoff filtration and habitat.

Planning department staff (Morgan Slater) acknowledged the requested wetland setback variance is substantial numerically, but said it is similar in scale to a 2012 exemption granted to a neighboring property. Slater and other board members encouraged the applicant to extend revegetation up to the FEMA flood zone and to relocate or eliminate a gate at the southeast corner; Huber said he would confer with his clients and submit a revised revegetation plan if the board left the record open.

Board action: The ZBA voted to leave the record open for one week to allow the applicant to provide a revised revegetation plan showing expanded plantings and fence relocation; no final vote on variances occurred May 19.

Next steps: The applicant will provide a revised revegetation/survey submission and any relocation information for the pool fence and gate for the board’s review.