Public hearing set on electric bicycle legislation: Aug. 19 Riverhead Town Board meeting wrap-up

The Town Board last week scheduled a public hearing on legislation that would impose strict limits on the use of electric bicycles, restricting where and how they can be operated.

The proposal, introduced by Deputy Town Attorney Danielle Hurley at a work session earlier this month, expands a 2021 local law regulating electric scooters to also cover e-bikes, or “bicycles with electric assist.” The hearing is scheduled for Sept. 16 at 6 p.m..

PRIOR COVERAGE: Riverhead considers speed, road and nighttime restrictions for electric bike use

The measure would cap e-bike speeds at 15 mph, ban riding on sidewalks and prohibit e-bike use between a half-hour after sunset and a half-hour before sunrise. The law would also ban e-bike from Main Street between Court Street and Route 58.

The proposal would prohibit Class 2 e-bikes, which can operate by motor alone, from designated bike lanes and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Recreational Trail at EPCAL. Class 1 pedal-assist e-bikes would remain allowed in bike lanes. 

The legislation would also codify in town law several state laws related to e-bikes, including that they are prohibited from driving on roads with speed limits over 30 mph. Nearly all of Riverhead’s major roadways have speed limits over 30 mph. The legislation would also increase the fines for violations.

Hurley said the law is intended to improve safety and does not heavily restrict e-bikes. However, a Matt Moore, policy counsel for the bicycle advocacy group PeopleForBikes Coalition, told RiverheadLOCAL that parts of the proposal are “troublesome and puzzling,” and warned that excessive restrictions could disproportionately affect low-income riders and people with disabilities.

“If regulations are too onerous, people who depend on electric bicycles for transportation…will have their mobility restricted, or will face possible fines,” Moore said in an email to RiverheadLOCAL.

During its meeting, the Town Board held public hearings on the following: 

• A proposed one-year long moratorium on adult-use cannabis businesses within Riverhead Town. The town proposed the moratorium after a State Supreme Court judge last month struck down key aspects of the town’s cannabis zoning law. Read about the hearing here.

• A Monroe balancing test for the Suffolk County Water Authority’s proposed North Fork Pipeline water extension, which proposes running a 24-inch water main eight miles through the Town of Riverhead, from Flanders to Laurel, to serve customers in Southold Town. Read about the hearing here.

• A proposed amendment to the Shopping Center Zoning Use District to add several new uses to the code’s list of permitted uses, including retail stores, banks, health clubs and spas, personal services, bakeries with on-premises retail sales and cafés, banquet facilities and ice cream parlors. It would also add drive-through windows for restaurants as a new special permit use, and it would require a front yard minimum of 35-feet for landscaped areas. 

• A proposed amendment to supplementary use regulations to require a minimum queue space of 10 cars for restaurant drive-through windows.

• A proposed code amendment to increase the minimum and maximum penalties for town code traffic infractions and parking tickets.

• A proposed code amendment to increase the minimum and maximum penalties for violation of the town’s fire prevention code.

• Proposed amendments to the town’s noise ordinance to add a definition of “physical noise or emission barrier” amend the section on prohibited acts related to motor vehicles to prohibit standing while the engine is running for more than 10 minutes for reasons other than traffic congestion where the sound of the engine is audible within 300 feet of a residential property boundary between 8 p.m.and 7 a.m. or where the sound “discernibly” crosses onto a residential property at any time where the sound source is a commercial vehicle equipped with refrigeration or auxiliary power units and there is no physical noise or emission barrier between the noise source and a residential property boundary.

The Town Board scheduled public hearings on the following: 

• Sept. 16, 6 p.m.: An amendment to Chapter 289: Vehicles, Traffic and Parking Regulations, to prohibit “any commercial vehicle or trailers equipped with a dump body or tipper bed used for the transport of aggregate or construction debris” from parking on the north side of Youngs Avenue in Calverton.

• Sept. 16, 6 p.m.: An amendment to Chapter 213 Bicycles and Electric Scooters Article I to prohibit the operation and parking of bicycles on any sidewalk on Old Country Road (Route 58).

• Sept. 16, 6 p.m.: An amendment to Chapter 213 Bicycles and Electric Scooters Article II to strictly limit the use of electric bicycles throughout the town by prohibiting them from traveling on major town roads, capping their speed at 15 mph, and banning their use at night. 

• Sept. 16, 6 p.m.: An amendment to Chapter 289 Vehicles, Traffic and Parking Regulations to add a definition for local delivery. The code change, town officials said during a work session, will help the town enforce its laws related to weight limits for large vehicles on town roads. Commercial or delivery vehicles on a weight restricted road will be required to provide proof of their local delivery, and failure to do so will result in a violation, according to the proposed code amendment. 

Also at its Aug. 19 meeting, the Town Board:

• Recognized members of the Riverhead Little League Police Benevolent Association (PBA) sponsored team, which clinched the Major Division championship title with a perfect 14-0 record.

• Accepted the resignation of Senior Building Inspector Andreas Sofoklis, who board members said is leaving to work for Brookhaven Town. “Andreas has been an excellent employee here. He’s helped pave the way for a lot of projects and been of great assistance and a great asset,” Council Member Ken Rothwell said. “I’m going to miss him, but I wish him all the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

• Authorized an agreement with environmental professional Jeffrey Seeman for services related to site monitoring and inspection for the Race Track Not Street drag racing events occurring August through November on a Calverton Enterprise Park runway. Seeman will conduct pre-event site visits and other activities to set up environmental controls required to protect sensitive habitats surrounding the runway, monitor the use of traction compounds, and “document conditions and advise on what corrective actions are needed and provide recommendations to protect the Town’s assets.”

• Ratified authorization of the acceptance of donations from Peconic Hockey Foundation, the nonprofit organization that runs the Peconic Ice Rinks at Veterans Memorial Park. The cost of items donated to the town — which include the costs from 2023 and 2024 of constructing the rink and staffing it — total $2.88 million, according to documents attached to the resolution. Peconic Hockey’s license agreement with the town requires the nonprofit to donate the ice rink, which was built on town-owned property at Veterans Memorial Park. In exchange, the Peconic Hockey manages the ice rink and is reimbursed for electricity costs up to a certain amount.  

• Accepted a $2,000 donation from Joseph C. DiBenedetto and Joseph C. DiBenedetto, ESQ for the Riverhead Recreation Department.

• Awarded a bid to E&B Industrial Cleaning Corp for the removal and disposal of sludge cake from Riverhead’s sewage treatment plant for two years. The town will pay the company $288.88 per ton, at an estimated amount of 4,000 tons per year. 

• Awarded a bid to Tully Environmental Inc for the removal and disposal of grit screen waste from Riverhead’s sewage treatment plant for two years. The town will pay the company $331 per ton, at an estimated amount of 600 tons per year.

• Awarded bids to multiple companies for the 2025 annual construction and procurement contracts.

• Authorized a budget transfer of $497,855 from the sale of 201 Howell Avenue, the former Riverhead Building Department building, to repay outstanding borrowing from the general fund associated with the town square.

• Ratified a budget transfer to use $15,371 from a $1.4 million town grant for the riverfront amphitheater project to pay for the relocation of the East End Arts Council to the Town Hall Annex Building at 206 Griffing Avenue. The historic buildings used as offices and galleries by East End Arts are being raised to the street level as a part of a flood mitigation project for the Peconic Riverfront. The amphitheater will be built on part of the East End Arts Campus and is also part of the flood mitigation project.

• Authorized nunc pro tunc a legal action in Supreme Court against 1099 Royal LLC, which owns the Route 58 shopping center that contains Staples, Aboff’s Paints and other stores. The town says the property is in violation of its site plan, Riverhead Town Code and New York State Property Maintenance Code due to “deteriorated asphalt and pavement, noncompliant striping and ADA signage, improper or absent dumpster enclosures, widespread refuse and debris, chipping and peeling exterior paint, rusted light poles, and overgrown vegetation.” The town’s complaint seeks injunctive relief, civil penalties and enforcement of the site plan in State Supreme Court, according to the resolution. Town Attorney Erik Howard said Thursday that after the lawsuit was filed, the property owner contacted his office to try to rectify the situation and that officials from his office were meeting with the property owner. 

• Accepted the $610,000 performance bond the Kathy Lane LLC in connection with the major subdivision approved by the Riverhead Planning Board on Jan. 16, 2025.

• Ratified the settlement of a 2020 legal action the town brought against William Kraemer, the owner of 510 Twomey Avenue, in State Supreme Court. The settlement includes civil penalties in the sum of $3,500 for the town, the resolution says.

• Authorized a notice to bidders for a water main extension for the CVE US NY Riverhead 215 LLC, which is constructing solar panels and battery storage at the former town landfill on Youngs Avenue. 

• Approved special event applications for Riverhead Athletic Club’s 5K race (Oct 4, 7-10:15 a.m.) and Fire Fare Supermarket’s customer appreciation day (Sept. 28, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) 

• Authorized a stipulation with the Riverhead Town Superior Officers Association that amends errors in the union’s collective bargaining agreement with the town regarding the salary schedule for the probationary sergeant position.