Riverhead looks at limiting special events during peak fall traffic season

Riverhead officials are considering new limits on special events during the peak autumn season to alleviate traffic problems on local roads.

The town is assessing the types of events and their impacts on traffic, and may impose limits on the number of big-draw events allowed to occur simultaneously or on the same weekend.

Some special events, such as festivals, add to existing congestion that occurs in the fall months when the region attracts visitors to local wineries and area farms offering pumpkin-picking, corn mazes and the like. Local roads, especially Sound Avenue, can become virtually impassable. And in recent years the impacts on secondary roads have escalated. With GPS devices and apps like Google Maps, motorists are finding their way into residential neighborhoods and roads like Hubbard Avenue and Peconic Bay Boulevard are often bumper-to-bumper with traffic seeking to avoid the jams on Sound Avenue and Main Road.

First responders have expressed concerns about the impacts of traffic on response times in emergencies, especially on narrow, two-lane roads like Sound Avenue where there’s little room to maneuver and traffic is often at a standstill in both directions.

The Riverhead Police Department brings on extra resources in the summer months, when the population swells, hiring additional traffic control officers and part-time police officers. The extra staff is maintained from May through mid-September. But with the growth of the North Fork wine region and the popularity of fall agritainment activities, high-traffic times in late September through mid-November don’t have the same level of coverage. The extra personnel comes at a price and the town is looking to avoid additional expense.

“We could limit the number of events by location, maybe within a certain number of miles,” Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith said. “And we can factor in the number of people expected.”

Sponsors of all special events are required to obtain permits from the the town prior to holding an event. The permit application review process is overseen by Laura Calamita, paralegal in the town attorney’s office. Calamita today presented to the town board an extensive report detailing the number and types of special events and parades held each month of the year within the Town of Riverhead.

All special event requiring permits are not “created equal” in terms of their impacts on local traffic, Police Chief David Hegermiller noted. Some draw large crowds and have big impacts, while others — for example a tent sale at a local retailer on Route 58 — don’t significantly contribute to the burden on local roads.

Officials are also considering revamping the fee schedule for permits, to better cover actual costs the town must bear to administer the permit program. Under consideration is imposing fees on nonprofits, which the town board by resolution typically waives.

Jens-Smith suggested requiring nonprofit groups establish that their income from special events benefit local charities and causes. Nonprofits that raise money for local causes would pay lower fees than for-profit entities. Nonprofits that are not raising funds for local causes would be treated the same as for-profit companies.

The town attorney’s office will work on proposed code revisions for implementing limits on fall events and for a revamped fee schedule that will better cover the town’s costs.