Business Owners: Winetasting Room Law Would Be "Catastrophic"

Two proposed laws that would change the Town Code to limit "accessory-use" buildings for local businesses and redefine agricultural production businesses were heavily criticized by business owners, who called the laws "redundant" and potentially "catastrophic" at a public hearing at the Town Board's meeting on Tuesday night.

By the end of the public hearing, Supervisor Sean Walter and several board members seemed to agree the law would have to be altered or scrapped.

"We'll have to go back to the drawing board on this one," Walter said.

The laws, which would both alter Chapter 108, Article 1 of the town code, were drafted in response to a recent Zoning Board of Appeals decision that would .

The first change would alter the language in the Town Code to define accessory use structures as smaller in size and purpose than the "primary use" structures on a business property.

However, this law was met with fierce opposition. Sal Diliberto, owner of  in Jamesport, argued against the law, saying it was too prohibitive.

"We're a very heavily regulated industry," Diliberto said of wine-makers, "[This would] open a box of worms." He added that a provision in the State Liquor Authority would already prevent the antique shop from getting a liquor license. Diliberto also said the proposal to redefine an agricultural production business placed too many limits on farmers. Councilwoman Jodi Giglio said the Town Board was working on removing parts of the Town Code that set a seven-acre minimum limit on farmland.

He also pointed out that the change in Town Code would remove language that had been used in legal cases and other parts of the Town Code, requiring an overhaul of all sections of the code that used that definition.

Other business owners, such as manufacturers in the Enterprise Park at Calverton, were concerned the new definition of "accessory use" would make their storage facilities illegal.

Peter Day, representing Stony Brook Manufacturing, said the proposal would "be catastrophic to our business." In an open letter from his company, Day argued that the language about the size of accessory-use areas would make outdoor storage illegal for businesses like Stony Brook Manufacturing.

Day added that the business owner was in Florida looking for a place to distribute his goods, and would begin to look for factory space to move his business to Florida if the law was passed.

One of the few voices of dissent was Dominique Mendez, co-founder of the Riverhead Neighborhood Preservation Coalition, who said that the loopholes about what constitutes accessory use should be closed. She urged the town to fix the language of the code to exclude specific accessory uses deemed unsuitable or unwanted.

Supervisor Sean Walter said that after hearing the complainants' remarks, he agreed the law would need to be dropped or at the very least rethought.

"This is why we have public hearings," he said.

Not all on the Town Board agreed. After the hearing Councilman George Gabrielsen said he was not convinced that the owners of the proposed wine-tasting room/antique shop wouldn't be able to find a way to get a liquor license, and hoped the Town Board would still be able to define acceptable and unacceptable accessory uses.