(Updated: 11:45 a.m.) A recommendation in the town’s draft comprehensive plan update to allow private schools in industrial zones will be removed from the draft plan in response to complaints from residents opposed to the Riverhead Charter School, Supervisor Tim Hubbard announced last night.
“We heard you loud and clear,” Hubbard told a group of about 20 charter school opponents at the start of a meeting convened to hear public comments about the draft generic environmental impact statement on draft comprehensive plan update.
The draft plan accepted for review and comment by the Town Board on April 25 included a recommendation that the town allow private schools in all industrial zones within the town by special permit. If implemented by an amendment to the town’s zoning code, the change would allow the Riverhead Charter School to seek a special permit for the construction of a new high school on industrially zoned land near the school’s main campus in Calverton.
That recommendation drew loud opposition from the Riverhead school district community. District officials and the labor union representatives have been opposed to the Riverhead Charter School since its founding in 2001. Charter school opponents packed the Town Hall meeting room for the May 22 public hearing on the draft comp plan, and dominated the discussion that night.
MORE COVERAGE: Speakers opposing private schools on industrial land dominate comp plan hearing
“I see we have people in the room, I believe, from the school district,” Hubbard said as last night’s meeting got underway. He said comments last night would be limited to comments on the DGEIS and comments on the charter school would not be allowed.
“But,” he added, “I will also tell you in an announcement, I have conferred with my board members, and we are all in favor of removing the language out of the comprehensive plan that would allow the charter school to go on on industrial land.”
The supervisor’s announcement was met with applause from the audience.
“We heard you loud and clear,” Hubbard continued. “We agree with a lot of the points. And there is land available in the town where, if the charter school should choose to build a school, that it would be zoned appropriately for that,” he said. “We’re not going to give away industrial land for the use of the charter school.” The entire board supports the change, the supervisor said.
It is unclear what this change will mean for the charter school’s plan to build a new high school.
Hubbard said this morning he had not yet spoken to Ankrum or the charter school’s attorney, Kimberly Judd, about the Town Board’s decision.
Charter School Superintendent Raymond Ankrum could not immediately be reached for comment this morning, but emailed a statement to RiverheadLOCAL after publication of this story.
“The Town Board should have notified the Riverhead Charter School (RCS) before their recent announcement regarding the zoning amendment,” Ankrum said in the email. “This decision, however, was not unexpected. It is disappointing that the voices of the taxpaying families who make up our school community were not given more significant consideration, especially given that the public comment period for the town’s comprehensive plan remains open until June 10th.
“As a public charter school, RCS is committed to serving the families of our community, including the many hardworking, tax-paying residents who have chosen our school for their children. We are actively exploring all available options for expanding our facilities within the existing zoning regulations of Riverhead, our home district, under New York State law,” Ankrum said.
“It is important to clarify that RCS operates as a public school, not a private school, despite certain legal distinctions related to its chartering process. Our teachers are members of the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) union, and we extend a warm invitation to all stakeholders, including the media and our fellow educators, to join us in a constructive dialogue to explore solutions together,” he said.
The charter high school is currently in a leased building — the former Northville School — on Sound Avenue in Northville, but the building does not provide adequate space for the school’s needs, charter school representatives say. The charter school sought to purchase farmland adjacent to its current high school for the purpose of building a new, bigger high school, but after intense opposition from nearby residents, the Riverhead school district’s teachers union and officials from the Riverhead Central School District, the Riverhead Charter School withdrew its proposal.
An attorney for the charter school told the Town Board at its May 9 work session that the charter school was negotiating with the owners of “two promising properties” near its Calverton main campus. Locating there, charter school attorney Kimberly Judd told the Town Board, would require a zoning code change to allow the charter school use at the site, which is presently zoned industrial.
Gregory Wallace, a Calverton resident and president of the Riverhead Central Faculty Association, the union that represents the school district’s faculty, was in the audience at Town Hall last night. A vocal opponent of the charter school’s expansion, Wallace was very happy with the board’s decision.
“We would like to thank Supervisor Hubbard and the Riverhead Town Board for pulling the proposed zoning changes in the draft comprehensive plan,” Wallace said.
“This change would have had a detrimental effect on the 5,500 students enrolled in Riverhead School District, our community and the residential taxpayer.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated after it was published to add a statement from Riverhead Charter School Superintendent Raymond Ankrum.
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