Riverhead Town Board
‘Freak Out! Let’s Dance’ festival approved; 24-hour retail ban adopted; term limits, high-density housing hearings set

Nile Rodgers “Freak Out! Let’s Dance” music festival got a green light from the Riverhead Town Board Wednesday night.

The festival will take place Friday, Aug. 12 through Sunday, Aug. 14 at Martha Clara Vineyards on Sound Avenue in Riverhead.

The board voted unanimously to approve a special event permit for the festival, which returns to Martha Clara Vineyards for the third time this summer. The approval came over the objection of some neighboring residents, who raised concerns about noise and traffic congestion associated with the festival.

Residents spoke out at a Dec. 31 special meeting before the town board voted on a resolution approving the permit. The board was poised to move forward with the vote until Jamesport-South Jamesport Civic Association president Angela DeVito pointed out that the town had not completed the environmental assessment form required by state law. The vote was then postponed to allow town planners to complete the form. When they did, the planners concluded that a traffic study was needed. The applicant subsequently submitted the study, which allowed the town board, upon its finding that the proposed action would not have significant adverse impacts, to move forward with permit approval.

Before Wednesday night’s vote, however, three residents who live near Martha Clara reiterated concerns about the proposed festival, which will for the first time this year be held over a weekend in the heart of summer.

Valerie Hubbard of Jamesport told the board getting around on local roads on summer weekends is already difficult without the added traffic the festival will bring. Concert-goers will be directed to take Main Road to Herricks Lane and head north on Herricks to an entrance to the vineyard site. She also said the loud music during prior Nile Rodgers concerts at Martha Clara could be heard for miles.

Elaine McDuffie of Jamesport predicted FOLD festival traffic on Main Road will be detrimental to businesses along the roadway. She objected to the statement in the EAF indicating that “an event of this magnitude is in keeping with character of our community” and another statement that events like this are “a common seasonal occurrence along Sound Avenue in the towns of Riverhead and Southold.” That’s just not true, she said, citing as backup a Newsday article she said called this year’s FOLD festival “the biggest event in Riverhead since 2003.”

“This is not agritainment. You can have it at another venue,” Jamesport resident Robert Skinner said, urging the board to relocate the event to town-owned property at the Calverton Enterprise Park. The town should take a hard look at Martha Clara’s events, because the number and type of events there make the winery more of a concert venue than a winery.

Prior to casting their votes to approve the special event permit application, board members said they thought proposed mitigation measures against excessive noise and traffic congestion would alleviate the conditions residents are worried about.

Newly elected Councilman Tim Hubbard said the application “had wheels on it” before he was seated on the board, otherwise he might not vote to approve. “I think we need to look at an alternative location in the future,” he said.

24-hour retail ban approved

Code amendments banning 24-hour retail operations in the Rural Corridor, Hamlet Center and Village Center zoning use districts were adopted by unanimous votes Wednesday night, despite the renewed argument from the attorney for a 7-Eleven franchisee looking to site the convenience store in Vinland Commons on Main Road in Aquebogue. The Vinland Commons site is located in the Rural Corridor district, where a 24-hour 7-Eleven would be barred.

Neighboring residents voiced opposition to the siting of a 7-Eleven store in the Aquebogue plaza, something the town tried to block in a court action, but failed.

Scott Greenspan, the attorney for the 7-Eleven, said the town cannot lawfully restrict the hours of operation of a business, citing a 2002 N.Y. State Supreme Court case, Louhal Properties v. Strada, which threw out a Village of Westbury code restricting business hours.

Riverhead officials, however, point to a 1994 State Supreme Court decision upholding Riverhead’s ban on 24-hour operations in a Wading River zoning use district  — also involving a proposed 7-Eleven. The trial court’s decision in Southland Corp. v. Janoski was upheld by an appellate division court and Southland’s request for leave to appeal to the state’s highest court was denied, effectively affirming the appellate division’s opinion.

The contrast between the two cases is discussed in a legal memorandum published by the N.Y. Department of State General Counsel titled “Can Local Boards Regulate the Hours of Operation of a Business?”  The memorandum states:

Although reaching different conclusions, the two cases dealing with local laws limiting the hours of operation of a business appear to use the same test: if provided with substantial evidence showing that restricting the hours of operation relates to the physical use of land and not to the internal operation of a business, the local law will likely be upheld as a legitimate exercise of the municipality’s zoning power.

The attorney for the proposed 7-Eleven in Aquebogue has said the company will bring suit to challenge the legality of the code amendments adopted by the board last night.

Hearings on proposed term limits set for April 5

Scheduled public hearings on proposed local laws that would establish term limits of 12 consecutive years for the offices of town supervisor and town council. The hearings will take place at the town board’s April 5 meeting, which begins at 2 p.m.

In an unusual move, an alternate local law concerning town council term limits wil also get a hearing April 5. The alternate code would effectively exempt Councilman John Dunleavy from the the term limits restriction for one additional four-year term of office.

The alternative law states that it “shall not prohibit any elected official who has served twelve consecutive years as of December 31, 2017 from seeking one additional term of office, by re-election only in November of 2017, and serving that additional term of office.”

Dunleavy, who will have served 12 consecutive years at the end of his current term of office on Dec. 31, 2017, is the only sitting council member who would benefit from the exclusion crafted in the alternative local law.

Dunleavy abstained from voting on the resolutions setting both public hearings. Councilman James Wooten voted no on setting the alternative law for public hearing. The measure passed anyway, with Councilman Tim Hubbard, Councilwoman Jodi Giglio and Supervisor Sean Walter voting yes.

Rental permit fees doubling

A measure that doubles the rental permit fees payable to the town passed unanimously. The local law was brought forward by Councilwoman Jodi Giglio, who advocated raising the fees to fund additional code enforcement personnel, so that the town will be in a better position to enforce its housing and other codes.

The fee for a one-unit rental, payable every two years, will double from $150 to $300. A two-unit rental permit will increase from $200 to $400, three units from $250 to $500, four units from $325 to $650. For properties with more than four units, the fee will be $1,000 plus $100 for each unit in excess of four.

The law also creates substantial penalties for failure to obtain or renew a rental permit.

High-density housing with benefits

The board set a March 15 public hearing on a proposed new zoning ordinance that will allow for development of high-density workforce housing rental apartments of up to 10 dwelling units per acre with the purchase of preservation credits and if certain development conditions are met.

If adopted, the code will clear a path for the approval of the proposed Family Community Life Center plan on property adjacent to First Baptist Church of Riverhead on Northville Turnpike.

The proposed code requires a minimum parcel size of 10 acres with minimum road frontage of 800 feet on a state or county arterial highway. The parcel must be served by the Riverhead water and sewer districts.

The preservation credits must be obtained through the town’s farmland preservation program or the county’s workforce housing transfer of development rights program, so long as the workforce housing TDR credits originated from the purchase or preservation of property located in the Town of Riverhead.

All of the dwelling units must be workforce housing subject to the income limitations set by the state or federal government. The development must include a community center that will provide educational and recreational services to the community, including day care, nutrition and wellness programs, performing arts space, sports and fitness facilities.
In other action Wednesday night, the board:

• promoted municipal garage mechanic Michael Curtis to a supervisory position, implementing the recommendation of the town’s internal audit committee. {{[LINK}}}
• ratified the reappointment of members of the town ethics board, Donna Barnard and Irene Pendzick;
• ratified the reappointment of members of the farmland preservation committee, Jeff Rottkamp and Kareem Massoud;
• ratified the reappointment of open space committee member Marjorie Acevedo.