Town Board wrap-up: code revision hearings, new IDA board member

A proposal to tweak the definition of “rental dwelling unit” in the town zoning code and increase rental permit fees got panned by the owners of seasonal rental cottages during a town board public hearing last week. The proposal was hailed by some residents — and a former resident — of a Calverton mobile home park where, according to complaints, rentals have led to drug activity and crime within the park.

“The park owners will now have to get permits for the manufactured homes within the parks if they’re not owner-occupied,” Councilwoman Jodi Giglio said. “Hopefully that will help quality of life within the parks.”

“Mobile home park owners have always had to get rental permits,” Supervisor Sean Walter countered.

“But they haven’t been,” Giglio said. She said the revised definition will make that requirement more clear.

The new definition is also intended to address the obligation of hotels and other transient lodging — which are not required to obtain rental dwelling permits.

“That was never the intention of the code,” Walter said.

But Garrett Moore, of Jamesport, and John Reeve, of Aquebogue, who own seasonal rental cottages and are required to obtain the permits, objected to the fee increase.

“It really looks like a pretty steep increase for a small business, especially a seasonal one like mine that operates six or seven months,” Moore said.

The single-unit fee would increase from $150 for a two-year permit to $250 for a two-year permit. A two-unit structure would be assessed a $350 fee for a two-year permit, up from $200. The three-unit permit fee would increase from $250 to 450; the four-unit fee would increase from $325 to 550; and a structure with more than four units would be assessed a permit fee of 750, up from $500. (All are two-year permits.)

Moore said his annual total for operating fees — town and county — would be $3,400 per year.

Reeve said he would “unfortunately have to pass the increase on to [his] customers.”

He said he’s got returning visitors coming from all over the world each summer to stay in the cottages he and his wife run on the bay in Aquebogue.

“We also have long-term rentals — retired people, young people. They will have to assume this increase. We’re going to tell them it’s the town board doing this,” Reeve said.

The increase is needed because any analysis showed that the permit process is costing the town more than it is collecting in permit fees, according to town officials.

“I was initially opposed to this,” Walter said. “But it’s costing the town $250 per unit just to do the inspections. It costs us more to implement the rental dwelling law than we were collecting. We can’t run a program where it’s costing the rest of the residents to run it.”

The proposed rental code revision was one of three public hearings on the town board’s agenda Tuesday.

Waiver of special deer hunting permit proposed

A second public hearing concerned the proposed new chapter in the code, “Hunting,” to waive a state requirement that each deer hunter obtain a town-issued N.Y. State Department of Environmental Conservation permit to hunt during the special firearms deer-hunting season in Suffolk County. Deer hunters in the town would still be required to comply with all other state laws and regulations regarding deer hunting. The code is intended to relieve the administrative burden on the town, Councilman George Gabrielsen said. There was no comment from the public.

East Main Street zoning change aired

The subject of a third public hearing Tuesday was the proposed rezoning of eight properties on the north side of East Main Street, just east of Riverhead Town Hall, from the Residence A zoning use district to DC-5, which allows more types of uses, including professional offices, two-family dwellings and townhouses.

“This really brings the code in line with the existing uses of the properties,” said Councilman James Wooten, who proposed the change. The affected parcels are mostly single-family homes long ago converted to office uses, which exist as nonconforming uses, Wooten said. “This change will encourage investment in these properties.”
In other action at the April 21 meeting, the town board authorized a license agreement with Bishop McGann-Mercy High School for use of town-owned property at 27 McDermott Avenue for short-term outdoor storage of rowing boats by Bishop McGann-Mercy High School’s rowing team; The site is already under license to East End Rowing but has some outdoor storage space that can be used by McGann-Mercy.

Robert Kern appointed to IDA board

The town board also filled one of the two existing vacancies on the board of directors of the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency with the appointment of Robert Kern. Kern is the first vice president of the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce and is a long-time member of that board. He is a principal in 2XS Consulting, a marketing, promotions and design firm in Jamesport, according to the chamber website. He previously worked as general manager of Martha Clara Vineyards.

Special event permits approved:

The board also approved special event applications for:

• Hallockville’s “Country Style Fair” May 16 and 17;
• Long Island Antique Power Association’s Antique Tractor Show and Pull May 16 and 17;
• Long Island Moose Classic Car Club’s Car Show for Wounded Warriors of Long Island, May 16;
• Native Events’ “Country Festival” at the 4-H Camp on July 25 and 26;

Honored for outstanding service

Tuesday night’s board meeting began with the presentation of a handful of proclamations honoring:

• Retiring Suffolk County National Bank vice president Vincent Cangiano
• Recently retired Riverhead town building inspector Jack Wherry;
• Retiring senior citizens bus driver David Murphy; and
• The Riverhead Business Improvement District Management Association for the downtown cleanup it organized on April 11.