Town Hall Notes: Wading River May See Corridor Study

The Town Board on Thursday agreed to pursue the possibility of hiring BFJ Planning Associates to conduct a comprehensive review of zoning along Route 25A in Wading River, from the Riverhead town line to the beginning of Sound Ave.

The purpose of the study would be to determine whether consideration should be given to changing the codes that currently govern what can be built along the 1.5 mile corridor.

The town board decided to invite Frank Fish, a principal with the New York City firm, into an executive session to discuss contract specifics such as price, scope, and timing of a study.

Reducing commercial development on the road after developers announced plans to construct major retail and office complexes on three separate parcels.

Coalition co-founder Dominique Mendez said she favors the study, but only if a building moratorium is imposed covering the year it would take to complete the review.

“Without a moratorium, it’s a waste of money and kind of useless because you’ve got three large commercial proposals out there,” she said Thursday. “If you were to approve them in the meantime, it would make the study pointless and obsolete before it was finished.”

The , naming the Town Board, the Planning Department, and Great Rock Golf Club as defendants, in an attempt to put a hold on a 7,000 square foot extension at Great Rock Golf Club.

Iron Pier Beach to Get Upgrades

The Town Board on Thursday authorized town recreation superintendent Ray Coyne to spend $56,000 to replace equipment at the children’s playground at Iron Pier Beach in Northville.

Only a swing set remains there, the rest having been removed as unsafe due to wear and tear.

The board also authorized Coyne to rent credit-card processing machines to enable people to  purchase beach stickers at Iron Pier and at the Jamesport town beach.

Coyne said he stopped accepting checks, having been burned too many times by checks that bounced, especially by nonresidents, who are charged a daily fee of $35 and $200 for the season. Town residents pay $15 for the season; seniors are charged $5.

Dog adoption fees waived for a day

People who show up to adopt dogs at the Riverhead animal shelter on Youngs Avenue on Saturday, June 18, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., won’t have to pay the $45 fee the town normally charges to cover neutering, vaccinations and having identifying micro-chips embedded.

Police Chief David Hegermiller, who oversees the town kennel, said the town’s animal advisory committee had recommended waiving the fee, albeit for a brief time, to encourage people to adopt.