Riverhead must enforce its ‘Dark Skies’ code aimed at limiting light pollution

Riverhead Town has a golden opportunity to bring one of the town’s biggest violators of its “Dark Skies” ordinance into compliance with the code’s requirements, but we fear town officials aren’t going to force the issue.

And they should.

If you live, as we do,  anywhere near the Riverhead Centre shopping plaza — a massive, nearly 50-acre commercial development on Route 58 built under the Destination Retail zoning recommended by the 2003 comp plan — you know what we’re talking about.  Since that behemoth opened up almost 20 years ago, we haven’t been able to sit in our backyard, look up at the sky and enjoy a starry night. That’s how much light Riverhead Centre gives off. It seems to illuminate the sky above about as much as it illuminates the asphalt and cement below.

It’s not supposed to be that way. Thanks to the efforts of former Council Member Ed Densieski and a committee he convened to devise policy and code to preserve dark skies in Riverhead — despite the onslaught of suburban sprawl and big development, the town has had a “Dark Skies” ordinance since early 2008.

As we all know, though, having a code and enforcing it are two different things. And while Riverhead’s Dark Skies code required all existing development to become “Dark Skies compliant” by Dec. 31, 2017, Riverhead Centre —built a few years before the code was enacted —never did what the code required. 

Now, Riverhead Centre is before the Planning Board for a site plan amendment — needed to cure other violations. Home Depot has been using significant portions of its parking lot and outdoor walkways to display a large assortment of trucks and equipment for rent or sale, as well as lumber, fencing, patio furniture, barbecue grills, beach chairs, plants, shrubs and more on the walkways along the store’s front facade. The outdoor storage and display violates the center’s original site plan approval. 

After a fire that started in some lawn chairs stacked up outside the store spread to the front facade and entryway in March 2022, the town issued summons citing the center for violations.  

That enforcement action resulted in an application to amend its site plan to  “legitimize” the  outdoor storage areas, in the words of Planner Heather Trojanowski, who presented the matter to the town Planning Board at its meeting Thursday night.  

It will keep the outdoor storage and displays in the parking lot— but going forward, they will have the official blessing of the town.

And the center owner is offering to replace the lighting with lighting that’s Dark Skies compliant — but only in the Home Depot portion of the center’s gigantic parking field. The rest of the center will retain the same lights that don’t meet the code’s requirements. They’re too-tall, too bright and may not be the type of lighting that directs the light downward only. 

And town officials seem to be ready to allow this, despite the deadline for compliance having passed 6 ½ years ago. This begs the question: Why?

We know Riverhead prides itself on being “business friendly,” but why look the other way for years and years when a commercial property owner flouts town code in the ways this owner has? This is not, after all, a small business entity that would suffer immense harm under this expense. A New York City property management and development company bought the 395,000-square-foot complex last spring for a reported $71 million. The current and prior owner had Riverhead in court on a property tax grievance case that was recently settled by the town for a reduction in the site’s assessed valuation of more than $1.8 million in the 2022/2023 tax year.

We think it’s terrible policy for the town to allow the owner to replace the lights outside Home Depot only —bringing only about a quarter of the site into compliance with the Dark Skies code — and we urge the Planning Board not to go along with the idea. 

Densieski, who is now chairman of the Planning Board, seemed incredulous at the proposal Thursday night. The board took no action on it. 

When Densieski was on the Town Board, he shepherded the Dark Skies ordinance through to the conclusion of a public hearing on Dec. 18, 2007, just before his term as council member would end. 

During that hearing, he referred to the Dark Skies code as a legacy of his tenure. He was right in that assessment. We hope he doesn’t participate in trashing that legacy now and we hope he can convince his fellow Planning Board members it’s a really terrible idea to let that happen. Densieski was not  on the Town Board to vote for the adoption of the Dark Skies code he fought hard to put forward, but today he’s on a board that’s in the position to make sure the Dark Skies code counts.