On Monday the public will get a chance to formally comment on the town’s new comprehensive plan at a public hearing before the Town Board beginning at 6 p.m.
The 209-page planning document, intended to guide the town for the next two decades, is a roadmap for its land use policies, including the types of development that should be allowed or prohibited, incentivized and disincentivized, and where that development should go.
Read the final draft comp plan update and draft generic environmental impact statement here.
The town’s planning consultants released a first draft of the plan in February and invited public comment. RiverheadLOCAL published an article analyzing the first draft of the plan’s “future land use” chapter.
MORE COVERAGE: Analysis: Key takeaways about future land use in Riverhead in draft comprehensive plan update
New recommendations
While all of the topics outlined in that article made it to the final draft of the plan, the future land use chapter has been amended to include some new recommendations.
The final draft has been available for formal written comment since the Town Board accepted it on April 25 and authorized the plan’s release for comment. It is anticipated that the Town Board will keep the record open for written comment for 10 days after the May 20 public hearing.
Comments made on the first draft, released in February, will not be part of the official record and the town is not required to respond to them in the final environmental impact statement. Only comments made during the official comment period on the final draft must be incorporated into the official record and responded to in the final environmental impact statement.
Here are three key things that were added to the final draft, according to a redlined version posted on the town’s website.
Charter schools in industrial zones
A new addition to the plan is to consider allowing private schools as a permitted use in industrial zoning districts. This would open up more land for the expanding Riverhead Charter School to build new school facilities on.
The comp plan says that industrial zones “currently permit, and should continue to permit, various non-industrial uses” in the zones. “The Town should consider allowing private schools as a permitted use in all Industrial zones,” the plan says.
Despite being primarily funded by tax dollars, New York State law considers the Riverhead Charter School a private school for purposes of zoning and land use, unlike public schools, which are permitted in any zone, the plan says.
The charter school was previously in contract to purchase and build a high school on vacant land adjacent to its current high school on Sound Avenue in Northville, but dropped that plan in response to backlash from some area residents. Since then, the charter school has been searching for another parcel of land for a new campus to accommodate its expanding student body.
An attorney for the charter school said it was eyeing land adjacent to its K-8 campus on Middle Country Road in Calverton for a high school. The current charter school property and the properties surrounding it are all zoned for heavy industrial uses, which the draft plan proposes should be rezoned to a new industrial zoning district with new regulations, known in the draft plan as “Calverton Industrial.”
Supervisor Tim Hubbard has said the town was helping the Riverhead Charter School try to find land to buy for construction of its high school instead of the Sound Avenue site. Riverhead Town Board members have been generally supportive of the charter school’s expansion plans and have spoken positively of the school.
Regulations for accessory apartments
One of the ways New York State is hoping to make housing more affordable is to incentivize homeowners to create apartments on accessory structures located on single-family properties. These apartments, also known as accessory dwelling units (ADU), are currently allowed in the town, but restricted by Riverhead Town Code in several ways.
The draft comprehensive plan recommends clawing back several requirements for ADUs to make them easier to legally have. Currently, homeowners must have possessed a certificate of occupancy for an accessory building for three years prior to applying for an accessory unit permit. The plan recommends revising or removing that provision.
“Originally intended to permit accessory units in existing buildings while discouraging new developments, this provision poses a burden on applicants,” the plan says. “A potential remedy could involve modifying the requirement to apply the three-year CO period to the principal building rather than the accessory building.”
The plan suggests eliminating the restriction on the minimum size of ADUs — currently 300 square feet — and consider “adjusting” the maximum size, which is currently 650 square feet, not to exceed 40% of the principal building area.
“If the Accessory Dwelling Unit and Principal single-family use are compliant with fire and safety codes, a restriction on the lower limit does not need to be stated,” the plan says. “Regarding the upper limit, The Town should consider eliminating the 650 [square foot] maximum and limit the size of the accessory unit to 40% of the principal dwelling.”
The plan also suggests reducing the off-street parking requirement of accessory dwelling units from two spaces to one. “Off-street parking requirements are a barrier to homeowners who want to add an ADU on their property because they are costly, take up space, and can add to impervious surfaces,” according to the plan.
It also recommends giving amnesty to illegal accessory apartments seeking legalization. When the Accessory Dwelling code was adopted, there was amnesty for the first 250 owners who legalized their accessory dwelling units, as well as a waived application fee, the plan says.
“Reopening this amnesty provision could help legalize additional illegal units,” the plan says. “Legalizing the units will benefit the town and residents because owners of the properties will have to comply with the full provisions of the Town Code, including requiring the owner to occupy either the principal or accessory unit, and comply with building, fire, and health codes, making them safer for residents, while bringing in additional taxes.”
In March, the Town Board received a letter from Housing Help Inc., a Long Island Housing and Urban Development counseling agency, asking the town to remove barriers to the creation of ADUs and reestablish the amnesty provision. Town officials have — at least partially — followed their advice.
Differentiating warehouses and distribution centers
Over the past few years, applications for warehouses in Calverton have dominated conversations at Town Board and Planning Board meetings. But distribution and logistic centers — which residents warn could bring heavy traffic to the area — were notably absent from the plan when the draft chapters were released.
The draft plan now recommends the town specifically define warehouses and distribution centers. “[T]hese uses have important differences that affect building design, transportation and truck traffic, and employment and should be defined in the code,” the plan says. “The Institute of Transportation Engineers provides definitions for warehouses, types of high cube storage, and high cube fulfillment centers that could guide the town’s zoning.”
What the town might do with these uses as defined is unknown. It could prohibit some or all of the uses in some zoning districts, or use them solely for analyzing traffic impacts of new developments.
What comes next
On Monday evening, the Town Board will hear public comments on the comprehensive plan and the draft generic environmental impact statement. The board is expected to keep the comment period open for written comment for an additional 10 days.
The town’s planning consultants will then gather and review all written and oral comments and respond to them in a final environmental impact statement.
After the Town Board adopts a final plan and impact statement, it will need to decide whether to implement the plan’s recommendations by amending the town code. Code amendments will also be the subject of public hearings prior to adoption.
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