MILLERTON — The Town of North East Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) voted Thursday, Feb. 19, to formally deny a request that would have reopened a 20-year-old dispute over an illegal dwelling on Cooper Road, bringing the latest chapter of the long-running Vitiello case to a close — and leaving the future of the property unresolved.
The rehearing request, filed in September 2025 by Josephine and Erasmo Vitiello, sought to revisit a 2005 ZBA decision related to the legality of their dwelling — a home located in a landlocked wood lot that has never received a certificate of occupancy.
Although the structure received a building permit in 2005, Town Attorney Warren Replansky has said it was approved as a shed but built as a single-family residence without the required public road frontage. It remains illegal under the town’s zoning code and litigation between the town and homeowners in 2018 resulted in an injunction requiring the property to be vacated.
The home, however, remains occupied, prompting public questions about enforcement by the Town Board. Thursday’s meeting served as the board’s final opportunity to determine whether it would reopen the case. The ZBA declined to do so, voting 3-1 to adopt a formal resolution written by Replansky denying the request.
The vote leaves the original ZBA ruling in place and affirms that the board will not consider whether the structure can be legalized. The future of the property is now back in the hands of the town’s zoning enforcement powers, returning to a status quo that has left residents of the illegal dwelling and neighbors uncertain about next steps.
While the agenda framed the item as a “review and vote on the decision for the reconsideration,” the board’s discussion shifted to broader questions about the legality of decisions made decades ago.
Board member Jeff Stark attempted to introduce a motion to re-hear the original 2005 determination, arguing that the ZBA’s original ruling contained legal errors — specifically that the board had imposed conditions it did not have the authority to impose and overstepped into the jurisdiction of the highway superintendent and town engineer.
No board member seconded Stark’s motion.
The decision ends the Vitiellos’ attempt to revive the zoning case through the ZBA, the latest chapter of a dispute that has dragged on for years.
Stark, in a lengthy statement entered into the record, argued that the 2005 decision should be clarified to remove conditions the ZBA had no legal power to enforce and to make clear that any path forward lies outside of the ZBA. Other board members did not respond on his comments.
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