Riverhead strengthens public nuisance law: June 17 Town Board wrap-up

The Riverhead Town Board has repealed and replaced the section of the Town Code addressing public nuisances to include violations related to substandard housing and to impose increased fines.

The updated law designates substandard housing conditions and health and safety violations as public nuisances. This change allows the town to levy steep civil penalties when taking property owners to court over such violations. 

The Town Board unanimously adopted the revised law during its meeting Tuesday.

Senior Investigator Richard Downs, who leads the town’s Code Enforcement Division, said during a May 1 work session that the goal of the revision is to broaden the scope of the public nuisance law and modernize its language.

“The previous code had notable limitations that hindered effective enforcement compliance,” Downs said. “These limitations included outdated Penal Code references, lack of necessary defined terms, lack of constitutional protections — especially related to first amendment rights — and reliance on specific criminal New York State Penal Code violations.”

Town Attorney Erik Howard said the public nuisance law “really only allowed us to focus on public nuisances where we can establish violations for and property for criminal sale of narcotics or convictions for prostitution charges.” The town needed criminal charges to bring its civil proceedings against those violators, he added.

“And a lot of times those get kind of lost through the prosecution process with the [district attorney’s] office, or, you know, the prosecution process would be lengthy, and by the time… you get those [convictions], it’s not really a public nuisance,” he said.

The code spells out “exactly how to gather evidence against a property that may or may not have a public nuisance,” Downs said. “We’ve included very important documentation and due process for violations. This ensures that the notice of violation is served in the proper manner.”

According to Downs, first-time offenders will likely be issued a notice of violation or brought before the town’s justice court to pay a smaller penalty. Property owners who fail to comply over time will be sued in Suffolk County Supreme Court and face large civil penalties.

The revised law increases the civil penalties for a public nuisance to between $5,000 and $10,000 for each day the nuisance exists — up from the previous $1,000 per day. It also allows the town to seek additional penalties through Riverhead Town Justice Court, including fines ranging from $500 to $6,000 and/or a jail sentence of up to 15 days.

Council Member Denise Merrifield, a retired prosecutor from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, praised the code update. 

“I think this is a tremendous help to property owners in our town. I think it’s a terrific tool for the courts. It gives them clarity for definition attorneys or procedures that are to be followed,“ she said.

Also during the June 17 meeting, the Town Board:

• Honored Rachel Ellwood, account clerk in the Receiver of Taxes office, as the town’s employee of the quarter. 
• Set a public hearing on a local law to prohibit parking and idling of vehicles on Youngs Avenue between East Meadow Road and Osborn Avenue. The proposal would ban all vehicles from parking and idling on the south side of the road, and semi-trailer trucks from parking and idling on the north side of the road. Read more here.
• Granted final site plan approval to the expansion of Scott’s Pointe amusement park in Calverton, which legalized an already-built go-kart track and pickleball courts on the site. Read more Read more here.  
• Authorized an agreement with the Riverhead Business Improvement District Management Association that approves its 2025 budget. Read more Read more here.
• Ratified a home rule request in support of the most recent State Assembly and State Senate bills that would allow the town to lease the former state armory on Route 58 to the YMCA of Long Island. Read more Read more here.
• Authorized the Riverhead Community Development Department to apply for three grants through the U.S. Department of Justice. The first would fund up to $92,000 for training police officers in de-escalation and crisis response. The second would fund most of the town’s purchase of a $59,600 language translation software for police body cameras. The third would fund 75% of the salaries of three new police officers over a three year period.
• Reappointed Brian Mills to the position of chairman of the Board of Assessment Review.
• Authorized the expenditure of $75,000 in Community Preservation Funds to purchase 48 Willow Street in Aquebogue for use as open space.
• Authorized a purchase of a dump truck for the Riverhead Highway Department using $300,485 in fund balance.
• Authorized the publish and posting of bidders for: liquid sludge removal and disposal; git screen waste removal and disposal; sludgecake removal and disposal; and disposal and recycling of municipal solid waste.
• Adopted a local law to amend the town’s zoning code related to the definitions of office and personal service businesses.
• Declared an emergency and authorized a purchasing agreement for liquid sludge removal and disposal for the Riverhead Sewer District. 
• Authorized a contract with the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps related to the continuation of medical billing for emergency transportation and medical services.
• Closed budgets for 25 capital projects. 

The board also heard comments from residents concerning odor and traffic conditions in neighborhoods off Youngs Avenue since the owner of a Nassau County recycling company began dumping materials for composting on farmland in the area. Read more here.

Other residents voiced concerns about the number of retail cannabis dispensaries seeking to open in Riverhead Town. There are two operating retail dispensaries in town, one on Middle Country Road in Calverton and another on Route 58. Two other applicants so far have had variance requests rejected by the Zoning Board of Appeals, resulting in litigation. A third company is seeking to establish a retail shop on Route 58 and Ostrander Avenue. A medical cannabis dispensary has been operating on East Main Street since 2016. Read more here.