Owner outlines plan to lift and renovate Long Island Sound house at 1027 Constable Drive; commission takes comments

At a preliminary review for 1027 Constable Drive, the applicant’s team described plans to lift the existing 1954 house roughly 2.5 feet to raise the first finished floor toward elevation 15, add an approximately 601‑square‑foot rear addition, and install stormwater mitigation including Coltec infiltration chambers sized to meet village code up to the 100‑year storm.

Counsel Kristen Motel and architect Robert Keller said the work will not demolish the house but will raise and repair it, add a small terrace and spa (hot‑tub scale), and replace roughly 9,500 square feet of lawn with native, salt‑tolerant plantings, 30 new trees (11 deciduous canopy, 19 evergreens) and extensive understory shrubs to improve habitat and reduce runoff. The team submitted a DEC jurisdictional determination that no state‑regulated freshwater wetlands are on the property; the existing seawall was inspected by a coastal engineer and reported in good shape.

Engineers told commissioners that all stormwater from new and expanded impervious surfaces will be collected and infiltrated on site; consultants said the work will reduce peak runoff compared with existing conditions and increase on‑site flood storage by roughly 4,000 cubic feet between elevation 10 and 11. Commissioners requested that the project include pool/spa treatment specifications (UV or salt systems) in the next submission, provide the percolation logs in the SWIFT report, and include written seawall inspection documentation in the record. Tree protection details will be required in the landscaping submission.

This hearing was a preliminary consistency review and no final action was taken; the project will return with revised engineering and plantings for formal consistency determination and planning‑board review.