Town Board wrap-up May 18

Kroemer Avenue is now right-turn only at the intersection with County Route 58.

The Riverhead Town Board Wednesday night approved the new restriction at the recommendation of Suffolk County Department of Public Works traffic engineers, who told the town a phased signal at the intersection, to allow traffic to turn west on Route 58 or proceed straight across the five-lane highway into the entrance for AdChem and Applebees would impede the traffic flow on the just-expanded county highway.

Board members John Dunleavy and Jodi Giglio both noted that the measure is temporary and will be rescinded as soon as the dedication of private property allowing realignment of the intersection is completed.

Additional downtown parking
The Town Board authorized the lease of a parking lot between Maple and Union Avenues for $5,202 per year for five years. The parking lot will provide 50 additional public parking spaces. The property is owned by 300 East Main Street LLC, which owns the site occupied by the soon-to-be-opened Riverhead Project restaurant. The lease is subject to a permissive referendum, according to the resolution approved by the board on Wednesday.

Second Street firehouse leased
Riverhead Town will sign a lease with the Riverhead Fire District for the use of the Second Street firehouse, retroactive to January 2011. The town is purchasing the firehouse site from the fire district but the closing has been delayed and the fire district needs to cover its expenses, including utilities, according to the resolution.

Accessory apartment opportunities expanded
Accessory apartments are now allowed uses in five commercial zoning use districts. The Town Board approved a code change Wednesday to allow accessory apartments in the hamlet residential, riverfront corridor, commercial/residential campus, rural corridor and hamlet center.

Survey of former Grumman site sought
Riverhead is seeking proposals for land surveying services in connection with the Calverton Enterprise Park redevelopment plans. Specifications for the proposals will be available from the Town Clerk beginning Friday, May 26. Proposals are due June 16. The Town Board wants to have the boundaries of the site surveyed and a topographical map made in preparation for subdividing the site, which the board is hoping to be able to market and sell after subdivision.

Building permit renewal fees may drop
A public hearing has been set on a proposal to drop building permit renewal fees from 75 percent to 25 percent of the original fee, or $100, whichever is greater. The renewal fee is presently 75 percent of the original fee amount, with no maximum.

Town employee retirements
The retirements of four longtime town employees were accepted by the Town Board at Wednesday’s meeting. Building administrator Leroy Barnes retires May 26 after 32 years with the town. (See prior story.) Richard Bokinz, an employee at the sewer district, Maureen Lynn, an employee at the water district, and Suzanne McEvoy, an employee with the Riverhead Senior Citizens Program, are also retiring after similarly long tenures.

Creation of “Caffrey Court”
The southern portion of Horton Avenue, cut off from the rest of roadway after the Middle Road rotary was constructed, has been renamed Caffrey Court, after the family that’s lived on the corner of Middle Road and Horton Avenue for more than a generation. The name change was made at the request of the Caffrey family; the Town Board had planned to name the road, which extends from Osborn Avenue to a newly created dead-end, “Horton Avenue Extension.”

Landmark designated
The Peters-Kimmel cottage on Kimmel Lane in Jamesport, located in the Jamesport Camp Grounds also known as the Methodist Camp Grounds, has been designated a town landmark on the recommendation of the Riverhead Town Landmarks Preservation Commission. The cottage was built in 1911 in an area originally developed in the 1830s, according to the resolution designating the cottage.