Harbor View Hotel abutter Lynn Allegaert and several other neighbors have appealed a decision by the Edgartown zoning board of appeals to uphold building inspector Lenny Jason’s issuance of a building permit for an outdoor bar on hotel grounds.
On July 31 the zoning board voted 4-1 to sustain the permit. Nevertheless, two days later, Edgartown lawyer Dan Larkosh, who with Boston lawyer Felicia Ellsworth represents Allegaert, Mark Dalton, Hume Steyer, James Swartz, Joseph Smith, Louise Neuhoff, Geoff Carboolad, Richard Zannino, Anna Zannino, Edwin Brooks, and Granville White, sent a letter to Jason requesting a halt to the building permit.
“On behalf of my clients,” Larkosh wrote at the end of the letter, “we respectfully request that you enforce the Edgartown Zoning Bylaws by the issuance of a cease and desist order directed to the Harbor View, and any other measures necessary to ensure the Harbor View property conforms to bylaws, including, but not limited to, prohibiting the use of the newly constructed structure, and the surrounding 2,275-square-foot patio area, for the service of food and beverages of any type at any time of day.”
“I’m not going to do that,” Jason told The Times Tuesday. Jason said the matter is now in the hands of town counsel and the court. Asked if he has retracted Edgartown building permits in the past, Jason said, “I can’t recall ever rescinding any permits.”
Jason said the bar is beginning to remind him of the Squibnocket Bridge saga. Larkosh represented the plaintiffs in that case.
A parallel case filed earlier in the summer on behalf of neighbors seeks to appeal the zoning board’s decision to allow the pool bar under a special permit. Larkosh appeared in Dukes County Superior Court on July 17 to seek an injunction against the pool bar. Superior Court Judge David Ricciardone took the matter under advisement that day. On June 25 he denied the injunction. Harbor View Hotel lawyer Kevin O’Flaherty said he filed a motion in Dukes County Superior Court last week to dismiss that case. He said he expects a hearing on the matter in October.
Larkosh said the bar is presently operational. Harbor View Hotel general manager Chris Bird confirmed the bar is up and running. Hingham lawyer James Lampke, who is representing Edgartown in lieu of Reynolds, Rappaport, Kaplan & Hackney, could not be immediately reached for comment.