Code changes to restrict e-bikes tabled: Town Board Oct. 6 meeting wrap-up

Code changes that would restrict the operation of e-bikes in Riverhead Town were tabled by the Town Board last week to allow two town advisory committees to weigh in on them.

Board members agreed to ask the senior citizens advisory committee and the alternative transportation advisory committee to review and comment on the measures before the board acts on them.

A lot of seniors are using e-bikes for recreation, Council Member Ken Rothwell said. “I just want to make sure that we’re doing the correct things,” he said, and took everything into account. “There really wasn’t a lot of discussion during the public hearing, so I just want to make sure the word is out and that we’re doing the right thing,” Rothwell said.

Council Member Bob Kern, who made the motion to table one of the two resolutions dealing with e-bikes, suggested some of the language needed to be cleaned up. For example, he said, the code should clearly identify that “handicap electric bikes are allowed at Veterans Park.”

Council Member Denise Merrifield moved to table the second resolution to amend the Bicycles and Electric Scooters chapter of the town code.

Both motions to table passed unanimously.

Supervisor Tim Hubbard said after Thursday’s Town Board meeting that two tabled resolutions were developed by the board’s code revision committee and had not been referred to either the senior citizens advisory committee or the alternative transportation advisory committee.

Zenith Building site plan amendment aired

Also at last week’s meeting, the Town Board held a public hearing on an application to amend the approved final site plan of the Zenith Group for development of a McDermott Avenue parcel.

The project received final site plan approval from the Town Board in July 2023 for a mixed-use four-story building on the 0.12-acre lot. The original plans included approximately 2,100 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and nine residential apartments — three two-bedroom units and six one-bedroom units — as well as amenity spaces on the upper floors.

The developer has since acquired the adjacent 0.06-acre vacant parcel on the corner of McDermott Avenue and East Main Street and seeks to expand the project with an addition consisting of 857 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, five more two-bedroom apartments and one three-bedroom apartment, along with two parking stalls. The addition will be connected to the previously approved building with a breezeway, Riverhead Senior Planner Greg Bergman said.

The property is located within the town parking district, and they are not required to provide any parking, Bergman reminded the board. That was something we had discussed at the work session. If the development were not within the parking district the building, with the addition, would require 39 parking stalls, Bergman said, answering a question about that from Council Member Ken Rothwell.

The Rev. Sean Murray of First Congregational Church of Riverhead, located on East Main Street, asked whether it would be possible for parking to be provided on the ground floor in lieu of some of the commercial space proposed by the plan.

“We’ve got a lot of retail spaces now that are empty and we don’t have a lot of parking,” Murray said

Project architect Martin Sendlewski replied on behalf of the applicant. “ The configuration of the property is very small, so you could not fit legal parking with the circulation requirements on the property,” he said. Two parking spaces were all that were possible, Sendlewski said.

Council Member Denise Merrifield asked whether the developer could purchase spaces in the public parking garage currently planned for the First Street parking lot north of Main Street and west of the McDermott Avenue site. Sendlewski said that would be his client’s business decision.

Baiting Hollow resident Claudette Bianco asked whether residents of the new building could be prohibited from using the public parking spaces. She said apartment building tenants are already making parking difficult for customers of downtown restaurants. Bianco expressed concern that parking will become even more difficult after a large portion of the riverfront parking lot is developed with a playground, as is currently planned.

Supervisor Tim Hubbard said such a prohibition is not possible but parking spaces are time-restricted and residents who want to park for longer than an hour or two would need to use spaces designated for longer-term parking.

The hearing was closed but the record was kept open until 4:30 p.m. for written comment.

Other actions taken at Oct. 7 Town Board meeting

• Authorized the supervisor to sign a letter of intent with Georgica Green Ventures for the development of a new residential development at 246 Griffing Avenue, currently a county-owned parking lot on the corner of Griffing Avenue and Railroad Avenue. The county has “indicated a willingness to transfer the property to the town at no cost to the town,” according to the resolution authorizing the letter of intent. Georgica Green Venture was the winner of $2.75 million in NYS Downtown Revitalization Initiative funds for the development project and the letter of intent will allow the project to move forward, according to the resolution.

• Authorized the issuance of bonds and appropriation of $6.5 million for the remodeling of 200 Howell Avenue for use as a town justice court. See story: Riverhead authorizes $6.5 million in borrowing to fund renovation of old town hall for justice court (Oct. 7).

• Authorized the town attorney to retain the law firm of Certilman, Balin, Adler & Hyman to represent the town defendants in an appeal of the Suffolk County Supreme Court decision voiding key provisions of the town’s cannabis code as preempted by state law. The action was brought by cannabis dispensary licensee Brian Stark Enterprises seeking to annul the denial of an appeal by the Riverhead Zoning Board of Appeals. See: Riverhead’s key cannabis code restrictions are pre-empted by state law, a Suffolk judge and state regulators agree (Oct. 14).

• Determined that the Suffolk County Water Authority is not immune from Riverhead Town Zoning and Land Use laws and regulations. See story: Who’s the decider? Riverhead Town and Suffolk County Water Authority head toward ‘impasse’ (Oct. 10).

• Approved the application of Adam Kopels and Elizabeth Ronzetti seeking to amend the terms and conditions of the special approval granted to Kar-McVeigh (Dimon Estate) in October 2023 regarding the commercial premises at 370 Manor Lane in Jamesport. See story: Chefs look to reopen acclaimed Shelter Island restaurant on Dimon Estate property (Aug. 29)

• Adopted a local law prohibiting parking or standing of all vehicles on the south side of Youngs Avenue between Eastmeadow Drive and Osborn Avenue and parking or standing of semi-trailer trucks or any commercial vehicle or trailers equipped with a dump body or tipper bed used for the transport of aggregate or construction debris on the north side of Youngs Avenue, between Eastmeadow Drive and Osborn Avenue. See story: Riverhead to ban truck parking near Crown Recycling after resident complaints

• Adopted a local law to amend the town code to define the term “local delivery” to aid in enforcement of weight limits on town roads.

• Authorized the demolition of the building at 30 Mc Dermott Avenue, which was purchased by the Riverhead Sewer District in 2012. The board declared a public emergency due to the condition of the building and hired a Riverhead contractor to complete demolition work for a fee of $32,500.

• Ratified the authorization for the supervisor to execute a license agreement with Riverhead Chamber of Commerce to utilize a portion of the Riverhead Town Hall as its office space. The chamber will occupy a 375-square foot space in the northeast corner of the basement level of Town Hall at no charge. The Chamber of Commerce currently has its office at 127 East Main Street, which the town is planning to sell for redevelopment and which is slated for demolition.

Scheduled the following public hearings:

• The application for US HUD Community Development Block Grant (“CDBG”) 2026 Funds on Nov. 6 at 2 p.m.

• A proposed local law authorizing the Town Board to exceed the state-mandated 2% property tax levy limit in 2026, on Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. See story: Riverhead Town Board sets hearing on piercing state property tax cap in ’26