Town Board meeting wrap-up: approvals for downtown apartment building, Dimon Estate expansion and 2.5M gallon water storage tank

In a lengthy and sometimes contentious meeting Tuesday afternoon, the Riverhead Town Board took actions on a number of items that have been before town officials for months, sometimes longer, drawing fire from critics who complained about public hearings held on short notice and the unusually late release of resolutions on the board’s agenda — some of which authorized significant actions with little or no prior public discussion.

Tuesday’s meeting followed the abrupt cancellation last month of the board’s regularly scheduled second meeting of September due to its failure to muster a quorum of the three members needed to hold an official meeting. The Sept. 19 meeting cancellation contributed to the volume of business on Tuesday’s agenda, as well as to the manner in which some actions were taken that sparked objections from community members.

Approval of new five-story apartment building on East Main Street

With Council Member Frank Beyrodt absent, the board unanimously approved a resolution granting both preliminary and final site plan approval for a new five-story, mixed-use building at 203-213 East Main Street, a 1.42 acre vacant parcel once occupied by a Sears and three other stores. 

Tuesday’s approval allows the construction of a 60-foot tall building comprising 165 rental apartments (52 studio units, 80 one-bedroom units, and 33 two-bedroom units), on the second through fifth floors, a total of 155 below-grade and first-floor parking stalls, and 7,910 square feet of first-floor commercial, amenity and leasing space.

Just prior to passage of the resolution approving the site plan, the board approved by a separate resolution, a “findings statement” required by the State Environmental Quality Review Act for the action, which was classified as a Type I action and therefore subject to a comprehensive review, including the preparation of an environmental impact statement.

The environmental impact statement was the subject of a public hearing on June 21, jointly with the required public hearing on the site plan application. The final environmental impact statement was adopted by the Town Board on Sept. 6.

Approval of special permit for Dimon Estate

The board approved in a 3-1 vote, the special permit application of the Dimon Estate (formerly known as the Jamesport Manor Inn) on Manor Lane in Jamesport, to expand a pre-existing, non-conforming restaurant use. Council Member Ken Rothwell cast the dissenting vote.

The approval allows the construction of a building addition of 600 square feet of additional dining area, which must be attached to the existing building and use the same point of entry. The maximum number of seats in the restaurant can expand from 80 to 100. The approval allows no more than 50 parking stalls. It prohibits tents, canopies, shelters, awnings or structures of any kind to be used on the property for restaurant or catering purposes. It also prohibits the use of any other structures on the property for anything but storage. The approval also requires the addition to conform to the town noise ordinance and to the acoustic report prepared by a sound engineer and submitted by the applicant earlier this year. All catering operations are required to cease at or before 9 p.m., Monday to Sunday, inclusive. No further expansion of the restaurant, restaurant use or catering use will be allowed.

The application has been controversial because of strong community objections to the operation of the restaurant and catering activities at the site — resulting in multiple lawsuits over the course of years of wrangling between the town and the property owners. The latest round of litigation — one action brought by the town over alleged violations of the town’s noise ordinance and a second brought by the property owner seeking to overturn a Riverhead Zoning Board of Appeals’ denial in April 2022. Both actions were stayed, or put on hold, by the court pending possible settlement.

After the legal actions were put on hold, the property owner filed the special permit application approved by the board Tuesday. 

The board held a public hearing on the application in two sessions, which concluded June 21 with a written comment period ending June 30. At the public hearing, neighbors and area residents renewed their complaints about noise from the catered events, primarily weddings, held at the venue, which is in the Agricultural Protection Zone, but allowed to continue operating as a pre-existing, nonconforming restaurant use. Other residents continued to complain that the current use is not a pre-existing use at all.

Jamesport resident Robert Skinner, who had complained about noise from the facility, thanked the Town Board for the town’s efforts to negotiate a settlement with the restaurant owner that he said would “positively contribute to a more quiet lifestyle in our neighborhood.”

Editor’s note: This article has been amended to correct an errors in the report of the terms of the approval and the Town Board vote, which was 3-1 with Council Member Ken Rothwell dissenting.

Hearings on moratorium proposals for industrial zones and large-scale battery energy storage facilities

The Town Board held a pair of public hearings on proposals for short-term moratoriums that would halt review and processing of applications for certain controversial land uses. 

Both proposals were sponsored by Council Member Tim Hubbard. One is a six-month moratorium on industrial development in the Industrial A, Industrial B and Industrial C districts — which are mostly located in the hamlet of Calverton. The other is a three-month moratorium on tier-two (large scale) battery energy storage facilities town-wide. 

Some time between the board’s Sept. 14 work session, when Hubbard brought the proposals to the board, and Tuesday’s marathon meeting, Hubbard secured the support of a majority of the board members to hold public hearings on the proposals. It was not clear from the discussion at the Sept. 14 work session that Hubbard had the support of two other board members for hearings on either or both proposals. Hubbard  had previously proposed an industrial district moratorium last October but lacked support to schedule public hearings.

Despite not taking formal action to authorize it, the town placed legal notices for Tuesday’s public hearings in last week’s edition of The Riverhead News-Review, the town’s official newspaper for publication of legal notices. Tuesday, prior to convening the public hearings, the board ratified authorization for the publication of the notices in the Sept. 28 edition of the newspaper.

The hearings begun Tuesday will be continued at the board’s next meeting, which is scheduled to take place on Oct. 18, beginning at 6 p.m. 

Community residents have been advocating for both moratoriums, albeit in substantially different form than those proposed —seeking longer terms, including for the full duration of the comprehensive plan update, and with fewer exemptions. But the handful of people at the sparsely attended meeting approached the podium to complain of the way the hearings were noticed, the length of notice given and the lack of public discussion of the issues at work sessions. 

Northville resident Kathy McGraw, a frequent critic of the incumbent Town Board, blasted board members for their handling of the moratorium issues. McGraw reviewed the history of requests for moratoriums by the community and the board’s response to the community’s requests.

“It’s incredulous the way you conduct town business,” McGraw told the board. “At a work sessions, there were no discussions at all. What do you do at work sessions besides read the names of resolutions?” she asked.

“You said you want to allow the public to make comments, you value their input. But let’s remember if this is so important to the people, why on earth did you schedule the BESS hearing on zoning changes on Dec. 28 at 2 p.m. in the afternoon, you know the public would have trouble with that. You say you want to hear from the public, but that is malarkey,” McGraw said.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t believe you when you say that you are wanting to hear from the public. In your typical stumbling, fumbling, dissembling fashion. Here we are today for hearings on BESS and warehouse moratoriums.” The timing of the proposed hearings is “a perfect plan to make sure you don’t have to vote on these matters until after the election,” McGraw said. She called the Town Board “gutless” and said it “doesn’t serve the people of this town.”

Community Development Director Dawn Thomas tapped to temporarily oversee planning and building department functions

A resolution approved by the board Tuesday made a “temporary assignment” of Community Development Director Dawn Thomas for the oversight of the comprehensive plan update as well as “personnel and assignments” in the planning and and building departments. 

Thomas has been performing oversight functions of the planning and building departments since early April, shortly after the suspension of Planning and Building Administrator Jefferson Murphree. She will be paid an annual stipend of $20,000 for the additional work, retroactive to April 1, according to the resolution. The stipend will be pro-rated and paid on a monthly basis, the resolution says.

The board had not previously acted on a resolution granting Thomas that authority, but her temporary assignment for purposes of overseeing the planning and building departments was announced at a Town Board meeting in April. At that time, the board approved a contract with Baiting Hollow resident Janice Scherer, who heads up planning for the Town of Southampton, for the oversight of the comprehensive plan update. The Scherer contract was open-ended in terms of its termination date. The town agreed to pay Scherer $160 per hour for her work. The board on Tuesday took no action regarding Scherer’s contract and did not say anything about it.

The resolution formalizing Thomas’s temporary assignment also said Thomas is now charged with oversight of a department of economic development and planning, which currently does not exist in Riverhead Town government.

“It’s something we will formalize by town code at some point in the future, in the event it becomes a permanent assignment,” Town Attorney Erik Howard explained in an interview after the meeting.

Hearing held on special permit application of Sandy Pond Mini Golf

A public hearing on the special permit application of Sandy Pond Mini Golf at 1495 Roanoke Avenue Riverhead drew little public comment. Kathy McGraw of Northville objected to the stated intention by planning department staff for the Town Board to issue a negative declaration under SEQRA for this action, which is classified as a Type 1 action for purposes of SEQRA review. McGraw said the documents before the town do not mention a clubhouse, which the developers told the Town Board they intend to build in the future. The town must explore the potential impacts of the development of the clubhouse, she said. Failure to assess the potential impacts of a future development phase is segmentation of review, which SEQRA prohibits, McGraw said.

Kimberly Judd, attorney for the developer said the only thing before the board right now is the miniature golf course and that’s all the board should consider in making the SEQRA determination of significance. 

The supervisor closed the hearing. Planner Gregory Bergman said the SEQRA determination would be brought before the board at its next meeting. 

Change orders for renovation contract for new Town Hall

Three change orders totaling an additional expenditure of $74,785 in connection with a contract for renovations of the new Town Hall at 4 West Second Street, awarded by the Town Board on Aug. 1 to GEC Contracting of St. James. The contract with GEC Contracting carried a total price of $474,380 with additional millwork for the board room at an additional cost of $49,022. 

The change orders pertain to: additional carpentry, electrical work and fire sprinklers ($22,217); additional millwork ($23,876); and repairs to the HVAC system ($28,282). According to GEC Contracting’s bid, which was attached to the Aug. 1 Town Board resolution awarding the renovation contract to GEC, millwork was to be performed by subcontractor Mr. Mica Inc., and “electric” was to be performed by subcontractor Brothers Security. The bid document attached to the Aug. 1 resolution did not mention fire sprinklers. 

The change orders each grant permission to J. Petrocelli Contracting to undertake the work authorized by the change order. J. Petrocelli Contracting of Ronkonkoma was awarded a professional services contract for construction manager services in the Town Hall renovation project.  The Town Board on April 18 ratified the contract between the town and J. Petrocelli Contracting for construction management services commenced the month prior. The contract provided that J. Petrocelli Contracting would be paid 10% of the total construction costs of the project.

Town officials celebrated the grand opening of the new Town Hall with a ribbon cutting and reception Wednesday morning. See story and photos here.

Transfer of reserve for excess tax levy

The board authorized the transfer of $1,531,049 from a reserve set aside to compensate for excess tax levy amounts in past fiscal years.

The town’s auditors in their report for fiscal year 2021, which was presented to the Town Board at a work session in March, said “The Town exceeded the 2% property tax cap for the year ended December 31, 2018 through December 31, 2021 without adopting a local law” as required by stat law. The auditor’s report also said the town would exceed the cap in 2022 by nearly $404,000.

MORE COVERAGE: Riverhead Town pierced 2% tax cap for 5 years without following proper procedure: audit report

Other actions taken at Tuesday’s meeting

In other action at the Oct. 4 meeting, the board approved, without dissent:

• A public interest order to increase and improve the facilities of the Riverhead Water District by the construction of a new 2.5-million-gallon ground-level water storage tank and booster facility on East Wind Drive in Wading River at an estimated cost of $6.5 million. The board in a separate resolution also assumed lead agency and issued a negative declaration, meaning the board determined that the action will not have any significant environmental impacts and no further environmental review is required by the State Environmental Quality Review Act.
• A pair of resolutions approving special event applications for the “Race Track Not Street” drag racing events during the months of August and September (retroactively) and the month of October, as well as one date in November.
• The special event application of Bold Broadcasting for the Riverhead Holiday Light Show at  Splish Splash from Nov. 17 through Dec. 31, from 5 to 11 p.m.
• The special event application of Dean Del Prete on behalf of the Adventure Group for a  “Laser Light Show” at the site of the Dorothy P. Flint 4-H Camp at 3186 Sound Avenue, Riverhead from Dec. 20 through Dec. 23, from 4 to 11 p.m.
• A resolution adopting a local law to amend the town’s special events code, Chapter 255 of the Riverhead Town Code. The board held a public hearing on the amendments Sept. 6.
• Established a budget for the town’s 2023 Community Development Block Grant contract, totaling $215,000. The resolution establishing the  budget sets forth the following allotments: Home Improvement Program $85,000; Peconic Riverfront Park improvements $68,275; Memorial Park clock repair $5,725; and $8,000 each for Bread & More Soup Kitchen, Butterfly Effect Project, Catholic Home Care, Church of the Harvest, Riverhead Community Awareness Program, Maureen’s Haven  and Open Arms Food Pantry.
• Determined that the home at 16 Doris Avenue in Riverhead is an unsafe structure and authorized its demolition.
• Authorized the clean-up of property at 172 Michaels Lane, Wading River and authorized the securing an abandoned in-ground swimming pool at that location.
• Authorized retroactively legal actions against the owners and all tenants of premises located at 1434 Roanoke Avenue in Riverhead. 

Personnel Actions

The board on Tuesday took several personnel actions, among them:

• Approved promotions of Planner Gregory Bergman to the position of senior planner at an annual salary of $100,276 and Planner Matthew Charters to the position of senior planner at an annual salary of $91,923.
• Approved a $20,000 per year stipend for Street Lighting District maintenance mechanic George McIntosh to compensate him for extra work done in connection with inspections and other work at the new Town Hall from June 7 through Oct. 7 and transferring McIntosh from the Street Lighting District to the buildings and grounds division effective Oct. 8.
• Appointed a building inspector, Robert Muller, at an annual salary of $67,784.
• Appointed Kate Davarashvili to the position of Senior Accountant effective Oct. 16,  at an annual salary of $87,747.
• Passed a resolution ratifying the reinstatement of two unidentified police department employees to active duty status effective Sept. 13. Both were suspended without pay as of Aug. 16 pursuant to disciplinary charges filed against them by Police Chief David Hegermiller. The board approved a separate resolution ratifying the authorization for the town supervisor to sign a stipulation agreement with the two employees.
• Tabled a resolution to suspend without pay an unidentified police department employee against whom Police Chief David Hegermiller filed disciplinary charges on a date not provided in the resolution.

Public hearings scheduled  

Oct. 17 at 6:05 p.m.: Proposed amendment to “Bicycles and Electric Scooters” (Chapter 213 of the town code) to restrict the sale, lease or rental of Electric Bicycles and Electric Scooters and Lithium Batteries and chargers that do not meet the standards set by an accredited testing laboratory such as Underwriters Laboratories 

Oct. 17 at 6:10 p.m.: Proposed amendment to vehicles, traffic and parking regulations (Chapter 289 of the town code) prohibit parking without permits along portions of Adelia Path, Sound Shore Road, Smuggler’s Path, Crow’s Nest Drive, Eight Bells Road, Hornpipe Drive, Nautical Drive and Treasure Drive in Riverhead.

Correction: This article was amended after initial publication to correct an error regarding the action taken on resolutions suspending police department employees.