Riverhead to take up new rules aimed at downtown flyboard operation — again

For the second time this month, proposed restrictions on flyboarding will be on the town board’s agenda when its special year-end meeting is convened this afternoon at 2 p.m.

The board is expected to vote on scheduling a Jan. 20 public hearing on proposed new regulations for “JetPack” vessels in town waters.

The regulations were drafted in response to the operation of Flyboard Long Island adjacent to Treasure Cove Marina downtown, and with the aim of forcing the business to move its operations away from the shoreline and out into the bay.

A resolution scheduling a public hearing on the new rules was tabled by the board Dec. 17 over the objection of Supervisor Sean Walter, who said he was surprised by the motion to table it because no council member objected to the measure when the board reviewed resolutions at a work session a few days earlier.

The board has not taken up the subject at a public work session since its 4-1 vote to table two weeks ago and the content of the proposed regulations has not changed.

It was not clear after yesterday’s discussion whether there currently is majority support on the board for the proposed rules.

“I think pushing them out into the bay is a big mistake,” Councilwoman Jodi Giglio told her colleagues yesterday. She expressed concerns about a sick or injured participant being able to receive prompt medical attention if the operation moved out into the bay. She advocated requiring the presence of a “CPR-certified” staff member during all sessions, but the other board members balked at that suggestion. Giglio also requested that the helmets mandated under the proposed rules be “international orange” and that the line used to tether the participant to the jet ski be of the same color.

Flyboard Long Island operator James Bissett IV and L.I. Aquarium and Exhibition Center executive director Bryan DeLuca have both objected to rules that would require the operation to move into the bay. They both argued that it would less safe for participants in the open waters, in the midst of high-speed boat traffic.

DeLuca has complained that the board is reacting to the complaints of two people who live on the cove where Flyboard Long Island has been operating. The attraction — one of a kind on Long Island so far — brought hundreds of visitors to downtown Riverhead this year, he said. Bissett has said he may move his operation to another town if the new regulations are adopted.

The new extreme water sport allows “flyboarders” to experience the thrill of flying. Flyboarders are tethered to a jet ski by a long hose that pushes water from the river through special footgear, thrusting them into the air.

DeLuca said the activity should be regulated by the state, not the town, and points to regulations adopted this year by the state of Maryland as an example to follow.

This summer, neighbors’ complaints prompted enforcement action by the town bay constable, who issued Bissett multiple summonses for alleged violations of town code provisions that prohibit waterskiing within 500 feet of shore. Officials acknowledged that the existing code does not address the new water sport and hastily drafted revisions intended to do so. That first draft was the subject of a public hearing on Oct. 7, after which the board decided the proposed rules needed to be reworked. Board members discussed revisions with the town attorney, bay constable and members of the town’s conservation advisory committee last month. All five board members agreed to push the flyboarding operation off shore, citing safety and environmental concerns. They directed the town attorney to revise the code amendment to require a minimum distance of 300 feet from the shoreline. Since the revised draft is substantially different from the draft on which the board held a public hearing in October, a new public hearing is required.

If the board approves the measure before it today, the public hearing will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 7:05 p.m.

Other items on today’s town board agenda:

increasing the fees charged for the use of the town showmobile;

accepting the retirement of sanitation supervisor John Reeve

appointing a new water district superintendent following the retirement this month of Gary Pendzick;

authorizing a bid notice the town’s municipal solid waste contract;

accepting $700,000 in N.Y. state grant funding for the development of a regional agritourism visitors center at the former firehouse on East Second Street;