Opponent of $20 million 40 Ocean Ave. project sues Larchmont Planning Board

Larchmont resident Adam Trigg has sued the village planning board for not requiring an environmental impact study for a $20 million housing development at 40 Ocean Ave. near his home and the Long Island Sound.

Trigg petitioned Westchester Supreme Court on March 2 to nullify the planning board”™s decision to waive an environmental study of 40 Ocean Ave.

The planning board acted improperly by not allowing full consideration of the “unique challenges and risks of development on or near the waters of Long Island Sound,” his petition states. 

In 2015, KOSL Building Group, a Mamaroneck company that specializes in building luxury houses, bought the property, including a house built in 1896, for $4.7 million. The plan is to subdivide the 1.5-acre lot into three parcels to allow two more houses.

KOSL has faced stiff opposition from neighbors who want to “make any development within the village difficult, if not impossible,” the firm”™s attorney, Steven Silverberg, said in a 2016 letter to the mayor and board of trustees.

Trigg, an executive with RBC Capital Markets, lives at 50 Ocean Blvd. He refers to 40 Ocean Ave. as The Orchards, a historic home associated with “renowned architect George Edward Ide.”

He concedes that the planning board has the authority to decide whether an environmental review is necessary. But first it must allow the regional Coastal Zone Management Commission to weigh in.

Last November, the planning board referred the subdivision proposal to the coastal commission. On Jan. 29, the commission asked for more information that would demonstrate the “visual and scenic qualities of the neighborhood.”

The planning board reviewed the commission”™s letter at a Feb. 1 meeting and concluded, according to Trigg, that the coastal commission had made a final recommendation.

At least two members of the coastal commission disagreed, Trigg said, indicating in messages on Feb. 3 that the commission wanted more information and had not taken a final position.

On Feb. 10, according to the petition, John Parkinson, the planning board chairman, signed off on a declaration that the project would not cause significant environmental problems.

Trigg claims that the planning board made its decision before the coastal commission had fully reviewed the proposal or made final recommendations. The board violated its own procedures and made its conclusion without regard to the facts, he argues, so the court must set aside the decision.

“We’re still reviewing the matter with the village attorney,” Village Administrator Justin Datino said in an email, “and have no further comments at this juncture.”

Trigg, who is licensed as a lawyer in New York, is representing himself in the action.