Niosi Firearms

Six months after a contentious public hearing that sent a proposed firearms business code back to the drawing board, a revision is still in the works — but remains in “early stages,” according to the council member who promised to bring a revised code back to the board’s agenda.

The application, first filed in April, drew objections from area residents because it included a firearms training facility/shooting range, with retail gun sales and gun-smithing services in a portion of the 73,100-square-foot commercial building.

Residents voiced concerns about a proposed indoor shooting range at 680 Elton Street during a site plan hearing Oct. 6 before the Riverhead Planning Board.

The Riverhead Planning Board will hold a public hearing Thursday evening on a site plan application for improvements and change-of-use for the Elton Street building where a firearm training facility and gun range are proposed.

Two men who allegedly stole guns, ammunition, apparel and accessories in June from a vacant commercial building at 680 Elton Street being illegally occupied by a firearms dealer pleaded guilty this month to burglary charges.

An indoor shooting range remains part of the revised site plan application filed by Signature Partners July 25. The Planning Board will schedule a public hearing on the application "as soon as possible," the board chairperson said last night.

Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said in an interview this afternoon she directed the Planning Board not to hold a public hearing on the 680 Elton Street application until after the Town Board acts on a code regulating gun shops and shooting ranges.

Firearms dealer Anthony Niosi, who proposed an indoor shooting range and gun shop on Elton Street, pleaded guilty today to unlawfully occupying the building in violation of the Riverhead Town Code and was fined $1,500 by Riverhead Justice Sean Walter.

The town board will hear public comments on three proposed changes to the Riverhead Town Code at Tuesday night's meeting. All three involve topics that have sparked controversy in the local community: gun shops & shooting ranges; drive-through windows in Wading River; and food waste-to-energy facilities.

A principal in the firearms business looking to open on Elton Street in Riverhead authored a blog for several years in which he espoused views accusing Jews of controlling Congress, posted racist opinions of Black people and pitched a fundraising effort for a Proud Boys member's legal defense after he'd been convicted of stabbing another man during a political confrontation.