A ban on parking along the length of both sides of Sound Avenue will be the subject of a Riverhead Town Board public hearing next month.
A proposed parking ban on Sound Avenue was originally aired in 2019, but was shelved for additional review and possible revision after a public hearing at which the L.I. Farm Bureau asked the town board to table the matter for further discussion with local farmers.
See prior story: Sound Avenue parking ban put on hold; town board to reconsider scope of restriction (Aug. 22, 2019)
“The farm community would like to work with the town to understand what you’re looking for and what you’re trying to address,” L.I. Farm Bureau Director Rob Carpenter said. Farmers would like to try to “work things out voluntarily” with the town, Carpenter told the board at the August 2019 public hearing.
Since then, some agricultural operations have made changes to add on-site parking capacity, alleviating some congestion on Sound Avenue related to cars parked on the shoulder of the road, officials said during last week’s town board work session.
“Lewin’s, Harbe’s, Briermere made real concerted efforts to take the cars off the road and they adjusted in the wake of this being considered,” Councilman Frank Beyrodt said during the work session discussion. “I know there are problem areas up and down Sound Avenue,” he said, and the town should look at it to try to eliminate potentially dangerous situations.
Parking is already banned on Sound Avenue in the area of the Riverhead Ciderhouse and Briermere Farms.
Councilman Tim Hubbard said the town should look at whether other trouble spots require similar parking bans, but he does not favor “looking to shut down parking from end to end on Sound Avenue.”
The idea of prohibiting parking on Sound Avenue was brought to the table again by the traffic consultants working on the town’s comprehensive plan update. Last month, the consultants told the comp plan advisory committee they recommend the town undertake a Sound Avenue corridor study to address traffic congestion on the east-west thoroughfare. The goal would be to alleviate traffic while maintaining the historic corridor’s rural character, Ray DiBiase, president and CEO of Louis K. McLean Associates told the committee. Potential solutions could include a parking ban, as well as widening the paved area of the town’s existing right-of-way to add a center turning lane and bicycle lanes on both sides of the road, DiBiase said. Committee members and town board members pushed back on consideration of widening the road and the addition of a center turning lane along the length of the road.
“I definitely want to hear from the farm community and from the public” on the parking question,” Hubbard said.
Town Attorney Erik Howard said the board could hold the public hearing “with the idea that, after receiving those comments, there will be some further revisions to this and maybe identifying certain zones” where parking would be prohibited. The board could also take the opportunity to analyze whether existing parking restrictions on Sound Avenue are still necessary, Howard said.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, the town board scheduled the public hearing for Wednesday, May 18 at 6:10 p.m. The hearing will take place during the board’s regular meeting, which will take place that evening starting at 6 p.m. at Riverhead Town Hall.
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