Town Board Aug. 18 meeting wrap-up

Riverhead Little League’s Minors Softball All-Stars team was honored by the Town Board Tuesday afternoon for its championship season. The 8-10 year olds won the New York State District 36 championship, defeating the East Hampton Little League team July 2.

The Riverhead Town Board on Tuesday adopted amendments to the town’s pet-store law that bring the town code into line with New York’s Puppy Mill Pipeline Law while retaining additional local animal welfare and consumer protection rules.

The state Puppy Mill Pipeline Law, adopted in December 2024, prohibits retail pet shops from selling, leasing, bartering, auctioning or otherwise transferring ownership of dogs, cats or rabbits. The state law allows pet shops to provide space to a qualifying animal shelter, humane society, animal protective association or nonprofit rescue organization for the purpose of showcasing animals for adoption.

Riverhead adopted its pet store law in October 2021, effective in January 2022,  barring the retail sale of dogs, cats and rabbits unless the animals came from animal shelters, animal control agencies, humane societies or nonprofit rescue groups registered with New York State. 

Riverhead’s law was controversial and quickly drew two lawsuits by the two pet stores then located in Riverhead Town which sued to challenge the town’s authority to enact it. Enforcement of the law was stayed by court order while the lawsuits proceeded. One of the two cases, brought by the owners of The Puppy Experience in Aquebogue, was withdrawn last August, after the store was shuttered. The other, brought by American Breeders Association dba Sportsman’s Kennels, remains pending, with its next court date scheduled for Aug. 25, according to the court’s online docket.

Town Attorney Erik Howard said during the Town Board’s Aug. 4 public hearing on the legislation that the proposed amendments to the 2022 code are intended to “refine and expand upon” the town’s existing code. The amendments add recordkeeping requirements, including certificates of source, licensing and registration information and complete veterinary records. They regulate animal enclosures, require regular human contact and observation, impose disease-control and quarantine requirements and prohibit sales of animals in public places or of animals dyed or artificially colored.

The town’s law, as amended, makes certain contracts for the sale of dogs, cats or rabbits unenforceable and creates a civil cause of action for purchasers.

“If there is any kind of issue with the contract or what they contracted to purchase, they will now have a civil action against the retailer,” Howard said.

The amended law also increases penalties to fines of $500 to $1,500 for a first offense, $1,500 to $3,000 for a second offense and $3,000 to $5,000 for third and subsequent offenses. It also allows the town to pursue civil enforcement, including penalties of up to $5,000 per day and injunctive relief.

In other action at Tuesday’s meeting, the Town Board:

• Held a public hearing on a proposed amendment to the Professional Business zoning use district, which takes in both sides of Roanoke Avenue from Northville Turnpike to just south of Route 58. The proposed amendment would add personal service businesses to allowed uses in the district and drew criticism from several area residents. 

See: Proposal to expand Roanoke Avenue commercial uses meets neighborhood resistance

• Honored a Riverhead traffic control officer and two police officers for their quick actions that stopped a speeding and erratic driver from entering the Polish Town Fair on Aug. 16, averting tragedy. 

See: Officers honored for fast actions to avert tragedy at Riverhead street fair

• Authorized the Community Development Department to offer supplemental first-time homebuyer assistance of up to $28,050 to eligible applicants buying homes in Riverhead and participating in Suffolk County’s down payment assistance program.

• Approved a $280,000 budget transfer from the General Fund appropriated fund balance into the town attorney’s professional legal services line for outside legal work, including real property tax matters, cannabis litigation and personnel matters.

• The transfer adds to a legal-services line initially budgeted at $400,000 in the 2026 adopted budget, the same amount budgeted for the line in 2025. Earlier this year, the board approved two transfers totaling $171,000 into the 2025 legal services line: $105,000 on Jan. 6 for litigation over New York’s Even-Year Election Law and $66,000 on March 17 for other outside legal fees.

• Ratified a retainer agreement with Siegel & Sitler PLLC to represent the town in litigation filed by 1086 OCR LLC and others.

• Approved a $650,000 budget transfer from the Riverhead Sewer District appropriated fund balance to the district’s equipment budget lines for the purchase of a 2026 or newer Vactor truck.  A Vactor truck is a specialized truck used to clean underground sewer pipe.

• Applied $750,437.57 in state CHIPS and Extreme Winter Recovery aid toward the Highway Barn Capital Project on East Wind Drive in Wading River, reducing the amount to be borrowed for the project.

• Authorized bids for a new aerial device and Ford F550 chassis, or equivalent, for the streetlighting department.

• Awarded a bid for a portable video pipe inspection camera system for the Riverhead Sewer District to CUES Inc. of Orlando, Florida in the sum of $74,235.50.

• Approved an agreement with D&B Engineers and Architects for stormwater pollution prevention plan work for the Riverhead Town Square project, at a cost not to exceed $9,300, to be covered by Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant funds.

• Accepted $13,368.35 in civil asset forfeiture funds from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office for law-enforcement purposes.

• Amended Riverhead Sewer District fees to add a $3,500 charge for unauthorized or unpermitted sewer connections.

• Ratified a Police Department application for a $13,045 state Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee grant for public-safety education.

• Approved a license agreement allowing Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps to use space in Town Hall for EMT course instruction.

• Approved license agreements with Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps to allow RVAC to use space in the Town Hall Annex Building for medical billing and records storage and to use vehicle bays and related space at the former New York State Armory building for ambulance storage. The resolution regarding use of the armory building was amended at the meeting to acknowledge costs associated with temporary heating units, to be paid from the ambulance district fund. These agreements allow RVAC to continue operations while its new headquarters on Osborn Avenue is being built.

• Established a town Hazardous Materials Response Team and adopted a Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Plan and Resource Guide under the Fire Marshal’s Office.

• Approved the Cutchogue Lions Club’s Blues by the River special event at Grangebel Park on Aug. 29.

• Approved live music by Playback at Wading River Beach on Aug. 28 and temporarily suspended certain Creek Road parking restrictions for beach-permitted vehicles during the event.

Public hearings scheduled: 

The board scheduled the following public hearings:

Sept. 1 at 2 p.m. public hearing on the proposed extension of the Riverhead Sewer District to 840 Old Country Road, where a retail cannabis dispensary is proposed.

Sept. 1 at 2:05 p.m.: public hearing on the Monroe balancing test for the Suffolk County Water Authority’s proposed North Fork water main extension and transmission line.

Sept. 15 at 6:05 and 6:10 p.m.: Two public hearings on amendments to the town’s special events code  and its fireworks and pyrotechnics code to designate the Fire Marshal as the permitting authority.

Renewed push for Town Board to meet with OLA

During the public comment portion of the meeting, the board heard extensive comments from residents and advocates for the local Latino community asking the board to schedule a meeting with OLA of Eastern Long Island at a public work session to discuss OLA’s proposed public safety law pertaining to federal enforcement actions in the town by ICE and other agencies. 

 See related story: OLA public-safety legislation comments at Riverhead Town Board.

Ag interests object to proposed special events code revision

The board also heard comments from an Aquebogue vineyard owner, a representative of the Long Island Farm Bureau and a member of the town’s Agricultural Advisory Committee objecting to proposed amendments to the town’s special events code.

Charles Massoud, whose family owns Paumanok Vineyards and Palmer Vineyards, said wineries and farms should be brought into the discussion before the town advances any new event regulations. He said wineries already face a difficult business climate and warned that additional restrictions, fees and penalties could hurt agricultural businesses.

Bill Zalakar, the Long Island and New York City regional director for the New York Farm Bureau, told the board agriculture is central to Riverhead’s economy and identity and urged the town to separate agricultural operations from the special events legislation. He asked the town to work through the Agricultural Advisory Committee before moving forward with regulations affecting farms.

Matt Pendleton, speaking from a letter prepared by the Agricultural Advisory Committee, said farmers feel unheard and view the draft code as overly restrictive and burdensome. He said the committee believes the draft repeatedly targets agriculture and should be reworked with direct farmer input.

Councilman Bob Kern responded by saying the draft is being rewritten and that the town is pulling agriculture out of the provisions.

The latest draft of proposed revisions to the town’s special events code was discussed by the Town Board at its July 23 work session. It was prepared by the town’s code enforcement committee and presented by Senior Investigator Rich Downs on behalf of the committee.

During the work session, Kern objected to many aspects of the draft, which he said imposed unduly burdensome restrictions and requirements on venues and producers of special events. Council Member Ken Rothwell voiced similar concerns and objections of members of the business advisory committee, which he said had not been included in the development of the draft. The discussion ended without any resolution as to proposal in its current form.

Supervisor Jerry Halpin at the time said the board had “a lot to chew on” and said the comments aired at the work session should be brought back to the advisory committees “and then we’ll bring this back around as quick as possible.” There has been no further public discussion of the proposal since then.