Town Board Notes: Proposal to Require Public Hearings for Commercial Site Plans Debated

A proposal to mandate that the town’s planning board conduct public hearings for all commercial site plan applications was met with some criticism, much support and many suggested changes during a public hearing at the start of Wednesday’s Town Board meeting.

Peter Danowski, an attorney who frequently represents commercial interests, cautioned that draft code in its current form could create “a long-winded process” that would drag on unnecessarily and discourage people from expanding existing businesses or establishing new ones.

He said he was all in favor of transparency and public participation, but argued against imposing further delays on applications that are determined to be in compliance with all pertinent town codes and give the property owner “the right to build” without special permits or variances.

Dominique Mendez, co-founder of the Riverhead Neighborhood Preservation Coalition, which had pressed for the changes, praised the Town Board for following through on the idea, but objected to the provision that the new rules would apply only to site plans submitted after the legislation becomes law.

She said her group is particularly concerned about two plans that have already been submitted for retail businesses along Sound Avenue and urged that the public hearing requirement be applied to proposals already in the pipeline but not yet approved.

Mendez also suggested the planning board be required to schedule its public hearings in the evenings to ensure the attendance of a greater number of interested residents than would otherwise be the case if the hearings were held during the day.

Supervisor Sean Walter set Sept. 16 as the deadline for the public to present written comments on the proposal. In view of the length and breadth of Wednesday’s discussion, he predicted that a second public hearing would no doubt need to be held before new legislation is presented for a vote.

Bow hunting at EPCAL

Town residents will be allowed to hunt for deer using bows and arrows from Oct. 10 through Nov. 27 at the old Grumman defense compound, now called Enterprise Park at Calverton.

In making the announcement at Wednesday’s Town Board meeting, Councilman George Gabrielsen said that a lottery would be held at Town Hall at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 27 to determine the dates when applicants will be able to hunt, but said that at least 200 week-long passes would be made available.