HomeMy WebLinkAboutFishers Island Utility Company 6.2025
Palmeri, Allison
From:J.Chris Finan <jcfinan@fiuc.net>
Sent:Friday, June 27, 2025 10:25 AM
To:Lanza, Heather
Cc:Tom Siebens
Subject:RE: Zoning letter from FIUC
Attachments:FIUC HL 6 2025.pdf
Dear Heather,
Please see attached a copy of a letter sent overnight to your office today. In it you will find two zoning treatment
requests for property owned by the Fishers Island Utility Company.
Happy address any concerns or answer any questions you may have.
Best,
Chris Finan
President FI Utility Co
& General Manager FIDCO
161 Oriental Ave
#604
Fishers Island, NY 06390
Office 631-788-7251
Cell 860-803-1603
From: J.Chris Finan
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2025 12:01 PM
To: Tom Siebens <tsiebens@fiuc.net>
Subject: RE: Zoning letter from FIUC
Tom,
This looks perfect, I have no edits.
Best,
Chris Finan
President FI Utility Co
& General Manager FIDCO
161 Oriental Ave
#604
Fishers Island, NY 06390
Office 631-788-7251
Cell 860-803-1603
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From: Tom Siebens <tsiebens@fiuc.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2025 7:41 AM
To: J.Chris Finan <jcfinan@fiuc.net>
Subject: Zoning letter from FIUC
Chris - In case we run out of things to deal with . . . . Attached is a letter I've drafted to Heather Lanza
requesting a new designation for the West Harbor Lot as "Hamlet Residential" and also asking for Code
changes to allow an Accessory Apartment where a corporation, as opposed to an individual, own a single
house and both the house and the Accessory Apartment are occupied by employees.
Let me know if you have any thoughts. Otherwise, great if you could email it to her and also send hard
copy via FedEx. In a perfect world I'd be there to raise this with her during her visit to FI Saturday, but at
least we'll get the comments formally submitted.
Thanks!
Tom
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Fishers Island Utility Company, Inc.
163 Oriental Avenue
Fishers Island, NY 06390
Ms. Heather Lanza
Director
Town of Southold Planning Department
54375 Main Road
P.O. Box 1179
Southold, NY 11971 June 26, 2025
Re: Proposed New Zoning Code
Dear Ms. Lanza:
The Fishers Island Utility Company, Inc. ("FIUC") would like to submit the following
two requests in relation to the proposed new zoning map and Zoning Code for the Town.
Zoning designation change: FIUC owns a seven-acres parcel of undeveloped land on the West
End of Fishers Island, SCTM # 1000-009.00-02.00-013.003 (the"West Harbor Lot"). This lot
is bordered to the west by by Crescent Ave., the north by Central Ave., the east by the shoreline
of West Harbor, and the south be private lots, including Union Chapel and its cemetery lot.
The proposed new zoning map designates the West Harbor Lot as "Residential-8 0".
Request: FIUC respectfully request that the West Harbor Lot be designated "Hamlet
Residential" for the following reasons:
1. FIUC needs to build more housing for qualified electric, water and telecommunications
operators who need to live on the island year-round to ensure adequate operational
staffing 24/7, including during storms and emergencies, every day of the year. At
present, FIUC owns housing for half of the necessary on-island staff. When staff who are
not in company housing leave, FIUC has no housing for their replacements. This is
becoming a serious concern as a number of such staff members near retirement.
2. The most cost-effective way to build housing is on parcels that FIUC already owns and to
build the housing as multi-family units prefabricated by Connecticut Valley Homes. We
were able to do this in 2019 by building a two-family duplex unit on a lot, known as the
Briar Patch, across the intersection on the north corner of the West Harbor Lot. The Briar
Patch was redesignated, with the help of the Planning Board and the Town Board, as
Hamlet Density. See Town Board's Enactment Resolution 2019-224, adopted 3/26/19.
By comparison,purchasing housing on the open market on Fishers Island is very expensive
and the housing stock on sale is often not suited for year-round living.
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3. Five acres of the West Harbor Lot are buildable, respecting all setbacks. As a result,
there is room for more than one dwelling structure, perhaps three or four duplexes.
Ideally, a designation as Hamlet Residential will permit this. See separate letter from
various Fishers Island organizations, including FIUC, seeking clarity on allowing
multiple structures for housing on an HR parcel. Multiple structures, each with multiple
dwellings would be a more efficient use of the precious land than subdividing it into
separate lots, each with only a single-family house.
4. The West Harbor Lot is ideally located for year-round living as it is near all the key
amenities on the West End - stores, school, ferry, doctor's office, Community Center,
post office, etc.
Accessory Apartments Owned by a Corporate Employer: The proposed new Zoning Code is
helpful in providing for Accessory Apartments, accessory to dwellings owned by human
individuals and occupied by members of the same household. The provisions do not seem to
apply where dwellings are owned by a corporation and leased to its employees. Specifically:
§240-44(A)(2) provides for an Accessory Apartment in a single dwelling. Subsection (b)(ii)
requires that the Accessory Apartment ". . . shall be for the sole, exclusive
use of the owner or a member of the owner's household, as defined by this
Code"
This provision will not accommodate a situation where a corporate employer owns staff
housing and leases it to its employees. As a real example, Fishers Island Electric
Corporation, a subsidiary of FIUC, owns a single dwelling that has two floors, each suitable
for an apartment and thereby capable of housing two utility employees. Apparently, this
would not be permitted because(a)the single dwelling is owned by a corporation, not an
individual, and (b) the two employees would not be members of the same household.
Similarly:
§240-44(A)(3) provides for an Accessory Apartment in a separate building on a lot with a
single dwelling. Subsection(b)(ii) requires that". . . either the principal or the Accessory
Dwelling, shall be for the sole, exclusive use of the owner or a member of the owner's
household, as defined in this Code. "
This provision will not accommodate a situation where a corporate employer owns staff
housing and leases it to its employees. As a real example, Fishers Island Telephone
Corporation, another subsidiary of FIUC, owns a single dwelling with a garage in the side
yard. The dwelling is leased to and occupied by a utility employee. A loft space in the
garage could be converted into a dwelling for a second employee. Apparently this would
not be permitted because (a) the single dwelling is owned by a corporation, not an
individual, and (b) the two employees would not be members of the same household.
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Request: FIUC respectfully requests that the proposed new Zoning Code allow an Accessory
Apartment where the principal dwelling and the Accessory Apartment are for the exclusive use
of employees of the owner.
I would be happy to discuss these requests and answer any questions you may have. Thank you
for your consideration.
ce ly
J hristopher Finan
sident
Cc: Thomas B. Siebens, Chairman of the Board
VIA email and FedEx
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