Dimon Estate seeks expansion on Manor Lane in Jamesport

Plans to expand the former Jamesport Manor Inn with a dining and catering room once again encountered overwhelming opposition from area residents at a Riverhead Town Board hearing last Wednesday. 

Neighbors said that noise from the Manor Lane restaurant — now known as Dimon Estate — is ruining their quality of life and can be heard as far south as Eileen Circle, which is off Main Road. 

Owner Matt Kar is seeking special permit approval from the Town Board to construct a 6,045-square-foot addition for dining and catering to the existing restaurant. 

Plans for the 136,344-square-foot parcel also include a proposed covered patio and patio areas, with related site improvements. The property is located in the Agricultural Protection zoning district and the proposal needs a special permit from the Town Board. 

Last week’s hearing was a continuation of an April 4 hearing on the same topic. 

The town has been in court with Mr. Kar for years in a lawsuit filed under the title, Kar v. McVeigh. 

“We are specifically here in an attempt to settle ongoing lawsuits that have been going on for more than 10 years,” said Charles Cuddy, attorney for the applicant. 

He said both the town Zoning Board of Appeals and the courts have ruled that catering is a permitted accessory use to a restaurant, much like a garage is accessory to a car. 

Frank Blangiardo, an attorney who lives across the street from Dimon Estate, said he represents a number of restaurants on the East End.

“I know a little bit about restaurants and the one across the street from me is empty. They are on the ropes and they’re going out of business,” he said. “They’re just looking to get approval and sell it to somebody else.”

Mr. Blangiardo then added, “He’s not a good neighbor and he should not be given any courtesies or extensions by the Town Board”. 

Phil Barbato, who owns a farm on Manor Lane, said the restaurant is located in the middle of the town’s Agricultural Protection Zone. 

“It’s surrounded by beautiful farmland and houses. The value of the site is based on that,” he said, adding that the site “has morphed into an inn, a restaurant and a major catering facility.” 

Mr. Barbato said this is not the use that was originally approved for the property, and that the operation now affects the environment, the quality of life and “probably our property values.”

Mr. Blangiardo called the restaurant “a scar on the APZ” and compared it to “putting a cruise ship on Manor Lane.”

Bonnie Schmidt, who has lived with her husband on Manor Lane for more than 40 years, said, “This proposal to build an events center is not a supporting use of the existing restaurant. The owners were granted the privilege of a non-conforming use permit to operate a restaurant even after it was previously closed from January 2000 to May 2007.”

According to the Suffolk County health department, Ms. Schmidt said, the restaurant is approved for 80 seat capacity, and doesn’t list the an additional 10 tables, causing it to be 50% over capacity. 

She said Mr. Kar is also running an on-site catering business from the location, asserting that, rather than an expansion of the restaurant, his application “is a change of use and should not be allowed in the Agricultural Projection Zone.” 

Aside from representatives of the applicant, eight people spoke during the hearing, all of whom objected to the proposal.

The Town Board also had requested that the applicant update previous sound and traffic studies and those were submitted. 

Steve Schneider of Schneider Engineering, which did the traffic study, said there was very little difference between the original study and the update. 

Sean Harkin of Sound Sense, which conducted the sound studies, recommended a number of additional approaches to mitigating noise.