Sag Harbor Village 'Legs' Sculpture to be Taken Down After Court Ruling

A large sculpture of a pair of legs displayed outside a Sag Harbor Village home has to be taken down, according to a recent court ruling by a Suffolk County Supreme Court judge.

The sculpture, ”The Legs” by the late artist Larry Rivers was installed without a building permit in 2008 on the Madison Street property and is currently owned by Ruth Vered and Janet Lehr.

The recent decision, made by State Supreme Court Justice James Hudson, ruled that the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) “properly found that the 16-foot sculpture was a structure” in 2012, so it would have to follow regulations as a structure under the zoning code.

The Village Building Inspector denied an application for a building permit back in 2010 and the ZBA denied an application for variances in 2011 due to the fact that the owners of the sculpture failed to address requirements for the requested variances.

In 2012, the application for a building permit to legalize the artwork was denied by the Village Board Inspector after finding that the three variances were still needed.

In 2012, two public hearings took place where two neighbors opposed the application.

One neighbor stated that the area is in a historic district and that the sculpture has become a ”business opportunity advertising product and merchandising model” because Vered and Lehr are gallery owners, according to court documents.

After Vered and Lehr were denied a variance to be allowed to keep the casting, because the sculpture was too tall and too close the street to meet village building code regulations, the two took their case to state Supreme Court where it was ruled that the sculpture violates village code meaning it might have to be taken down.

The sculpture sits only 1-foot away from the street and village code states it must be at least 35-feet away.

The decision stated that granting 1-foot variance would set a precedent “which would undermine the purposes of the Zoning Code and that any hardship that would result was self created.”

In addition, the judge ruled that “it was not until the complaints were received and the notice of violation issued that the applicant brought the matter to the ZBA.”

Because of this, the ZBA “should not be disturbed” since there is no proof the civil rights of the homeowner were violated by the application of the village building code, according to court documents.