Main Road historic district nomination to be withdrawn

The attempt to get Main Road listed on the national and state registers of historic places has come to an end — at least for now.

The Riverhead Landmarks Preservation Commission, which nominated the Main Road corridor for listing on the registers, voted this evening to withdraw the nomination.

Commission Chairman Richard Wines made the motion to withdraw, saying he was honor bound to do so because he publicly promised that the commission would not proceed with the nomination if it did not have the support of the property owners in the district.

“The only way this can move forward is if you have my resignation,” Wines said.

“I’ve worked harder on this than anyone else, but we have to recognize that we’ve failed to get public support. We’ve lost the battle, as painful as it is,” he said.

Reluctantly, after the chairman’s motion was seconded by member Cliff Baldwin, the commission voted unanimously to approve the motion to withdraw.

It was the second time during today’s meeting that Wines made a motion to withdraw the nomination. The first time, it didn’t gain a second and wasn’t brought to a vote.

A crowd turned out for today’s commission meeting, with many opponents of the listing angrily protesting it — and one man equating the measure to Nazism.

“This board works for us, not the state,” said Robert Gabrielsen of Jamesport. A cross-section of the property owners signed a petition against the listing, he said.

He criticized what he said were assumptions the commission had relied on in pursuing the historic district, including “assuming that those who object are against preserving the past.” Gabrielsen said “the opposition is a clear majority.”

Laurel landowner Gian Mangieri, an adamant opponent of the listing, expressed deep mistrust in the intentions of the commission, which he said would adopt more restrictions on property owners in the future.

Cornelius O’Neill of Jamesport likened the listing to the National Socialism.

“My family paid a horrible price to fight National Socialism,” O’Neill said.

Southold Councilman Jim Dinizio also blasted the measure and complained that the nomination put him “in a position to vote against historic preservation,” something he did not want to do.

“In all my years on the [Southold] zoning board, the thing I heard most was ‘Let’s not turn into Riverhead,'” Dinizio said. He said Southold Town enacted zoning to prevent the spread of commercial development between the hamlets.

“Let Southold go on and be what Southold is,” Dinizio said.

Dinizio and other Southold Town Board members have been very skeptical of the designation — and angry that the Southold portion of the proposed district was added by the state after Riverhead’s application was filed. That was done at the insistence of the state office of historic preservation. Southold residents have complained that they did not get enough notice of the application and did not have sufficient opportunity for input.

Some speakers today supported the listing.

Angela DeVito of South Jamesport criticized the four Riverhead town board members who signed a letter seeking to withdraw the nomination.

“It seems our town board has abandoned the American rule of law, replacing majority rule with rule by the loud and the misinformed,” DeVito said.

Several property owners said they were anxious to be able to take advantage of the tax credits offered in a listed district.

“I’m one property owner on the Main Road who needs some help and this might be beneficial,” said Patricia Gaus. “Why would you deny me that help?”

After he closed the public comment portion of the meeting, Wines made a motion to withdraw the application. It did not garner a second. It was only after continued discussion of the matter that Wines renewed his motion, which Baldwin then seconded and the board approved unanimously.

“This commission does such great work with Richard at the helm,” Jodi Giglio, town board liaison to the commission told dejected commission members immediately following the vote. “It does so many great things. Unfortunately, to keep this commission intact we should just chalk it up to a lesson learned.”

The commission may pursue a Main Road historic district designation in the future.

This time around, “we lost the information battle,” Wines said.