Let the Town Board know before it’s too late

The Town Board is poised to adopt the final draft of the comprehensive plan update. This plan has been in the works for more than four years.  It’s not their plan, it’s ours. Here’s the deal: this comp plan is supposed to prioritize and be an expression of what the residents— not developers—want for the future of this town.

Last Monday, the Town Board held a public hearing on the draft plan— it is 209 pages long. At the hearing, the people of Riverhead were told they had three minutes each to make their comments.  (In fairness, time was extended for a few additional minutes but public hearings in this town have traditionally had no speaking time limit.). I’m sorry, something as important as this update, which sets out the road map for this town for the next 10 years, and has taken more than four years to complete, warrants more than three minutes of speaking time. The entire hearing, which focused primarily on the charter school issue, took less than 2 1/2 hours. Surely the residents of this town deserved better.

That said, you can still submit written comments by writing to the Town Clerk. The address is: townclerk@townofriverheadny.com. The record is open until June 10.

I encourage you to look at some concerning recommendations in the plan that would greatly impact the town and the hamlets within.  If you are opposed to any of them, take a minute and let the Town Board know before it’s too late.  Send a quick email.

The plan recommends:

Lifting the 500-unit cap on residential units in the Downtown DC-1 District.  

If one visits downtown, it sure doesn’t look like more imposing apartment buildings are needed. And there are more to come that have already been approved. 

Eliminating the need to have a certificate of occupancy for three years before an owner can add an accessory apartment to a residence, and allowing an increase in size for the accessory apartment from no more than 650 sq ft to up to 40% of the size of the principal building.

This means accessory apartments can be built whenever and wherever a new house is built—a developer’s dream. Sales prices will soar. Density could change dramatically in residential zones.

Permitting short-term rentals downtown and near beaches.  

I’m sure you can envision the impact this will have on the residents of homes or apartment buildings in such areas. If you can’t, talk to someone who has lived near short-term rentals.

Allowing private schools in industrial zones.

This will reduce allowable economic development in those zones and also remove the land from the Town’s tax base.

Allowing “vertical farming” on farmland as well as in industrial zones.

Vertical farming involves tall buildings and high electrical usage. Farmers are currently allowed to install as much solar as needed to supply up to 110% of their electrical demand for their operations. The draft plan also suggests allowing solar energy production beyond the 110% threshold “as an accessory use to the primary agricultural use,” which “supports the financial stability of farmers and fosters the integration of renewable energy.

You can envision the “new” look of our beloved wide vistas of farmland on the North Fork — non-stop solar panels. 

Allowing, under the heading of “agritourism,” commercial resorts on residentially zoned land north of Sound Avenue on the bluffs of the Long Island Sound.

These resorts will most assuredly not be “farm experiences” but modern hotels with pools, spas, restaurants, tennis and pickleball courts as well as parties and weddings for those staying there along with their invited guests. So much for the comp plan’s goal of preserving our scenic Sound bluffs and the historic Sound Avenue corridor.  Not to mention the disruption to those living in that residential zone. 

Lastly, the plan recommends mitigating the visual impacts of industrial buildings in the Calverton industrial zone by various means such as increasing setbacks and reducing the Floor Area Ratio.  But it recommends using the transfer of development rights (TDRs) to allow developers to buy development rights to increase density by increasing the allowable height of buildings.  

While this may sound good, in reality it will only reduce the current 12 million square feet of buildable industrial space in Calverton by a piddling 166,000 square feet if TDRs are used.  The warehouses may look a bit better but there will still be 11,834,000 square feet of buildable space.  Calverton will be in the same mess it finds itself today.

These items only skim the content of the proposed comp plan update.  While there are some good ideas in the plan, I think the issues set out above have the potential to forever change Riverhead’s distinctive character.  

Now is the time to let the Town Board where you stand.  June 10 is the deadline.

Kathleen McGraw, an attorney, is a resident of Northville.

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