Parking time on Main Street reduced, fines increased for locking animal in vehicles during ‘extreme heat’ : Riverhead Town Board wrap-up

The Riverhead Town Board adopted a local law reducing the time people can park along Main Street from Ostrander to Osborn Avenues from two hours to one hour, except for certain marked stalls with 15-minute time limits. 

The amendment passed last Tuesday in a unanimous vote also removes the 30-minute time limit for parking on the west side of Union Avenue. The amendment was made with the goal of increasing the “flow” of the downtown area, and is a recommendation of the strategic parking plan adopted by the Town Board in 2020 drafted by Sam Schwartz Consulting, a firm based in New York.

The board also recognized two town employees Jessa Uguil, tax cashier and Brian Linnen, engineering department custodial worker, as employees of the second and third quarters of the year, respectively.

During the meeting, the Town Board also:

• Passed a law raising the fines for people who lock animals in vehicles during “extreme heat.” The fines were raised from $50-100 to $250-$750 for a first offense; $100-$250 to $500-$1,000 for the second offense; and added a fine of $1,500-$2,500 for the third and subsequent offenses. 
• Adopted a year-long extension to the moratorium on commercial solar energy systems. The Town Board voted unanimously 4-0 on the resolution, with Councilman Frank Beyrodt recused. The moratorium was initially adopted in October 2021 in response to a large number of commercial solar energy projects being built in Calverton, and was meant to last until the town’s comprehensive plan update — which has continually stalled — had been complete.

• Accepted the donation of an outdoor deck hockey rink from the Peconic Hockey Foundation for use at the proposed ice rink facility at Veterans Memorial Park in Calverton. The board also classified the site plan for the project as having no adverse environmental impact for the purposes of the State Environmental Quality and Review Act. The town assumed the lead agency and determined the project is an unlisted action for the SEQRA review of the project. 
• Held a public hearing on an amendment to the town’s zoning code for adult-use marijuana business that would allow them in most commercial zoning districts that allow retail uses, subject to minimum distance requirements to prevent the businesses from locating near residences, schools and other family-friendly places. Those who spoke at the hearing, including residents and prospective marijuana entrepreneurs, were mostly in favor of the code, although speakers said the distance requirements went too far. Due to the distance requirements, the most commercial space for marijuana business would be located along stretches of the Route 58 commercial corridor and would be prohibited downtown. 

• Held a public hearing on a local law to override the 2% tax levy-cap for this year’s town. Supervisor Yvette Aguiar’s tentative budget for 2023 calls for a townwide tax levy increase of 3.3% over the 2022 tax levy to fund a 4.9% spending increase. There was one comment during the hearing in favor of the override. A public hearing on the budget proposal, which becomes the preliminary budget if not amended by the Town Board before the hearing, will take place on Nov. 1 during the board’s 2 p.m. meeting. 

• Held a public hearing on an alleged unsafe structure located at 46 East Second Street in Riverhead, the home where five people perished in a fire last November. A demolition permit was issued to the property owner earlier this month, a short time after the public hearing was scheduled, Town Attorney Erik Howard said. The building was demolished the day before the hearing and demolition site is in the process of being cleared, he said. The hearing was adjourned to the next board meeting, when it is expected that the demolition permit will be closed and the hearing can be closed.

• Scheduled a public hearing on an amendment to the town’s zoning code that would allow indoor sports and recreation facilities in the Planned Industrial Park zoning-use district. The amendment also removes the restriction that accessory uses not only be used by the employees, tenants and business invitees to the industrial park, and that such retail sales are not limited to certain items. The area where retail sales are allowed is limited to no more than 5% of the gross floor area of the permitted use, not to exceed 1,500-square-feet, whichever is less. The district is the current zoning for the industrial core of the Calverton Enterprise Park. Town officials said at a recent work session that the change will allow certain businesses in the area, such as Riverhead Building Supply, set up showrooms for its products.
• Approved the special event permit applications for three separate drag racing series with a total of 14 events at the Calverton Enterprise Park. One two day series by Andre Baxter’s Scramble Inc., “Scrambul: Gaplands,” is scheduled for early April. Two series from Peter Scalzo’s “Race Track, Not Street” drag racing events will run in succession from mid-August to late-October. The resolutions state that the events are “subject to the pending sale of the property at EPCAL” and Council Member Tim Hubbard said the events would not take place if the property is sold, unless an agreement is executed with the new owner.

• Accepted the resignation of longtime Deputy Town Attorney Daniel McCormick, effective Oct. 21. The board also hired a replacement for McCormick, Richard B. Stafford, effective Oct. 31 at an annual salary of $115,000 with benefits. Stafford is a criminal trial attorney, runs a law office in Bohemia and was previously an Suffolk County assistant district attorney, according to his LinkedIn page. He got his juris doctor degree at Pennsylvania State University in 2001, according to his LinkedIn page.
• Allocated $150,000 of American Rescue Plan Act federal coronavirus relief funds to six nonprofit organizations in and surrounding Riverhead Town. The organizations who will receive $25,000 each include Dress for Success Brookhaven, East End Disability Associates, East End Child Advocacy Center, Warrior Ranch Foundation, Hallockville Museum Farm and East End Arts Council. 

• Accepted the retirement of Police Officer Dana Lefebvre, effective Oct. 15.
• Appointed a part-time police officer, Melvin Flores, and placed him on a leave of absence pending the completion of certain requirements.
• Approved the transfer of an additional $44,000 for the replacement of the cupola at the George Young Community Center in Jamesport, including $9,000 not from the Community Benefits agreement intended to pay for the restoration project.
• Approved the expenditure of $3,320 in community benefit funds from the agreement with Riverhead Solar I and the town in 2019 to repair the hatch on the J.E. Young Telescope Observatory located at the Riverhead High School. The repair, which includes taking apart and reassembling joints and gears to free the hatch, was granted to J. Petrocelli Contracting Inc., according to the resolution.
• Passed a resolution declaring a structure located at 168 Creek Road in Wading River ”unsafe” and directing the town’s engineering department to demolish the structure and levy the cost on the property owner.
• Authorized the painting of a mural at 127 East Main Street, the location of the Town Square. 
• Awarded the bid for insurance brokerage services to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Risk Management Services, Inc of White Plains. The firm was the sole bidder on the town’s bid issued in August.
• Rejected two bids for traffic signal emergency repair and maintenance and additional work for 2022-23, and reposted the bid for those services.