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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-03/01/2022 PH 1 COUNTY OF SUFFOLK : STATE OF NEW YORK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD -------------------------------------------------- TOWN OF SOUTHOLD REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING -------------------------------------------------- Southold, New York March 1 , 2022 4 : 30 P . M . B E F 0 R E : SCOTT A . RUSSELL, SUPERVISOR LOUISA P . EVANS , JUSTICE JILL DOHERTY, COUNCILWOMAN GREG DOROSKI , COUNCILMAN BRIAN 0 . MEALY, COUNCILMAN SARAH E . NAPPA, COUNCILWOMAN March 1, 2022 2 SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : I am going to invite anybody who would like to comment on the specific agenda items , please feel free . MS . KATHERINE STEPNOSKI : Hi . Good afternoon . Katherine Stepnoski . Thank you for putting the labor workforce housing on the agenda . I tried to attend the work sessions to hear what decisions you guys might have about the definition, but with whatever happened today, you guys had to change gears and I had to go back to work . I really feel that it ' s important that it be clarified because right now there is a discrepancy between one department and another . And for instance, application I put in with the advice of Phil Rullen of Workforce Housing for my farm, a different title/name was put to it by the Building Department in the actual application and CO . So it really needs to have a very clear answer and that includes for the Assessor ' s Office . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Sure . We had -- actually Jim Glubber and Doug Cooper March 1, 2022 3 join us . So we had that discussion . We didn ' t come to any resolution today, but was mentioned by everybody that we need a good definition and will be working on . So there is nothing on the agenda about that right now because we ' re not taking any action yet . I do appreciate everything you said . And if you do want to stick around and come up after we get this agenda done, we will talk about it in depth? MS . KATHERINE STEPNOSKI : I do . We do -- SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Understand . MS . KATHERINE STEPNOSKI : I have a situation with the Assessor ' s Office and I am trying to get clarification on what the valuation should be on workforce housing . And I have looked at the code, and that includes information from the State, which was supplied by the secretary when I was here at the Ag meeting . She Googled it and it does allow for family members who are full-time active employees to reside without it being considered the owners -- the farm March 1, 2022 4 house . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Can we discuss that -- let me get the agenda done and we will take that up . MS . KATHERINE STEPNOSKI : Okay . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Would anybody else like to address on any of the specific agenda items? (No Response ) . (Whereupon, the meeting continued on with the Resolutions . ) COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : WHEREAS , there has been presented to the Town Board of the Town of Southold, Suffolk County, New York, on the lst day of February, 2022 , a need for stop signs at Duck Pond Road, in Cutchogue ; WHEREAS , it has been presented a Local Law entitled "A Local Law in relation to an Amendment to Chapter 260 , Vehicles and Traffic, in connection with Traffic and Pedestrian Safety . " Now, therefore, be it RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Southold will hold a public hearing on the aforesaid Local March 1, 2022 5 Law at Southold Town Hall , 53095 Main Road, Southold, New York, on the lst day of March, 2022 at 4 : 31 p . m. , at which time all interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard . The proposed Local Law entitled, "A Local Law in relation to an Amendment to Chapter 260 , Vehicles and Traffic, in connection with Traffic and Pedestrian Safety" reads as follows : And I am going to read a summary . This proposed Local Law for which a Public Hearing is being held this evening, proposes to amend Chapter 260 of the Town Code, Vehicles and Traffic, to allow for the installation of two additional stop signs on Duck Pond Road . The purpose of this Local Law is to further allow traffic control on Duck Pond Road . This will be accomplished by amending one section of the Town Code to add the stops signs . The full text of the proposed Local Law is available for review in the Town Clerk ' s office and the Town ' s website . And in this folder here, I have a copy of a legal notice and an affidavit of March 1, 2022 6 publication that it was published in the Suffolk Times . I have a copy of the Legal Notice that I read from before . And I have an affidavit that it was published on the bulletin board, the Town Clerk ' s bulletin board, sign and notarized by Lynda Rudder . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Would anybody like to comment on this absolutely riveting Public Hearing? (No Response ) . JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : Motion to close the hearing . COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Second . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : All in favor? COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye . COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Aye . COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye . COUNCILWOMAN SARAH NAPPA: Aye . JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : Aye . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Aye . (Whereupon, the meeting continued with Resolutions at this time . ) SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : That completes the business agenda . Who else March 1, 2022 7 would like to address the Town Board? MR . ROBERT DUNN : You guys spoke about that half percent? SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Yes . MR . ROBERT DUNN : For affordable housing -- I think you need a couple of qualifiers there . Have to have residency for a period of time . You don ' t want to have Suffolk County and Nassau County people getting married and moving out here for a year so that they can get a subsidy to buy a house . You follow what I am saying there? SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Yeah . MR . ROBERT DUNN : I am not asking you to agree . Do you -- SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : -- concerning that some are under the perception that the programs are losing their validity to create a local option . That specific legislation allows you not only to -- MR . ROBERT DUNN : Yeah, it ' s -- not only should there be a residency requirement but there should be an income threshold . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : That money March 1, 2022 8 -- we have to develop a community housing plan prior to the referendum to be voted on . In other words , that has to be in place and offered to the voters so that they know what they ' re voting on for that November . So all of those details will be worked on over the next year . We need a committee . So that we can get people from real estate, you know, developers . All that . And put something together . The thing is , it ' s funny, people are disputing my claim that you can put a local preference on certain circumstances when actually that law requires you to . MR . ROBERT DUNN : Absolutely can . Absolutely can . But the reason I say it, there are a lot of people and I know you have lived in a City -- and I don ' t know how many of you have, but many people in th City have lived in rent controlled apartments that would love to have their first home be in Southold . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Stabilized rentals in New York City have been very good to the seasonal population to Southold Town historically . March 1, 2022 9 MR . ROBERT DUNN : Right . So you don ' t want to subsidize that . What you ' re trying to do here is help the local kids . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : If the rent stabilized in New York City, they would be required to maintain their residency or they have to give up the apartment -- in other words , they have to pick one or the other . MR . ROBERT DUNN : If you have more than one home in New York State you can decide -- SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Right . Not when it comes to stabilized rent -- live in a stabilized apartment . That must be your claim primary domicile . Otherwise you ' re not entitled to the protections of New York City Housing Law or Rent Stabilization Law . MR . ROBERT DUNN : That is something between you and your landlord . That is not between you and the State . Your landlord gets you thrown out of your apartment if it ' s not your primary . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : But the March 1, 2022 10 rent stabilization laws that are adopted by the City need to be adopted by New York State before they become effective . And that has always been a voting contention . But yes , I used to live in rent stabilized apartments . So I know -- MR . ROBERT DUNN : Okay . Thank you . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : But I agree with the underlying premise, which is a residency requirement . And the fact that -- yeah, people are getting benefits in two locations . MR . ROBERT DUNN : And I would think if people are going to get benefits , they ' re deserving of it . It could be -- the person you want to help is the kid who graduated high school and married someone in his class and between the two of them, they can ' t afford a house . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : I agree with you . Thank you . Steve? MR . STEVE BUZACK : Sure . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : I have not seen you in a long time, Steve . It ' s good to see you . March 1, 2022 11 MR . STEVE BUZACK : Steve Buzack . I have been a resident for Mattituck for about 30 years . Supervisor Russell , Members of the Board . The reason I am here, I had a Senior Citizen Exemption for a couple of years . It was about two years . And it was denied because my income was too high because of veterans 100% disability, which I got in Vietnam. There was a ( inaudible ) back in ' 72 , I have the Volume . Whatever it is , it ' s there . That the Town can charge for the Senior Exemptions , the Veteran Disability can count as income ; however, New York State came back and on the instructions for the RP57 line says that municipalities may provide local options to deduct from their incomes various disability compensation payments . Check with the Assessor to determine if this option is in effect . If so, complete 9, blah, blah, blah . And I spoke to a couple of fellows at the office a few times and it has never been addressed by the Town . So it ' s probably been there for years and years . I am sure . I don ' t know if I am the only one who ever March 1, 2022 12 came up . If you go to some states -- I will make this brief . If you go to some states in the United States , a lot of them. Not some . If you ' re 100% service, combat, you don ' t pay any tax . I am not expecting that in New York but you guys have the option of saying "Yay" or "Nay" and again, it ' s service in a combat zone . I didn ' t get in a car accident in Upstate New York . I was overseas . That ' s pretty much it . I am asking the Board if they can review that ledger . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : One of the challenges with that and I know in your case, you ' re pretty much maxed out because of the eligible funds . You and I discussed years ago . The income changes probably wouldn ' t affect you . Whereas , probably the issuance may be -- the school taxes , when you look at the tax bill . That is where that adjustment -- MR . STEVE BUZACK : I had it for two years , Mr . Russell and then they took it away . Because I kept -- when I kept approaching every year and returning the March 1, 2022 13 application, I said, here is my veterans -- you know, I showed it to them. No, I don ' t need it . I show it to them every year . Then the last year, I showed it to them and then Mr . Webster indicated, no . Your income is over the max because of the veterans money . And to me, it seems like a shame that you would charge somebody that either got injured in combat or blown up, and you ' re going to charge that as income . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : I thought you were maxed out and it was the school that would be the challenge . Wouldn ' t they set the limit on that? MR . STEVE BUZACK : Well , it ' s $ 37 , 000 in Mattituck . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : I am wondering if this school has the ability to change or deduct . I will look into it if you want? MR . STEVE BUZACK : Again, it ' s not a disability for getting sick in the military . It ' s from combat . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Yes . We will look into it . March 1, 2022 14 MR . STEVE BUZACK : Thank you . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Thank you for your service . MR . STEVE BUZACK : Thank you . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Who else would like to address the Board? MS . KATHERINE STEPNOSKI : So is this the time for that? I am just trying to get some clarification from the Board as to when this definition would be -- I am assuming drafted by you at this point? We submitted -- and the timeframe on when that might happen? SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : I would like to be definitive and say two weeks . I can ' t guarantee that . I will say this Board -- and I can ' t speak for everybody . I know I always say this Board, but I think we ' re anxious to get the big house legislation adopted and we realize that we can ' t get this done until we get this buttoned up first . So this way, an urgency on the Town Board to get that done . MS . KATHERINE STEPNOSKI : The clarification is not just about the big March 1, 2022 15 house . It does go -- because I speak to it personally because right now a farm labor house, which is CO ' d by this Town as farm labor workforce housing is being considered as a primary residence in the Assessor ' s Office . So you have two separate entities recognizing the structure in two different ways . And it ' s obviously an accessory building . So there are words to that definition right in the State Code for Ag ' s and Markets . So I think that the definition that we came up with, which includes family, there is clarification on who that is . If they ' re full-time employees or employed more than 30 hours , that help cover part of the definition in case that is something that you might have question on . And for me, we have a Grievance Day coming up . So to clarify this also for the big house and also before Grievance Day is also important to me . The other reason is , Artie ( inaudible ) Suffolk County liaison for farming, he has been diligently trying to get this funding . And I am going to bring this up to you guys . It ' s grant money available to people in the March 1, 2022 16 Ag industry to be able to do upgrades or new builds for workforce housing . And that includes not just heat, but also roof, insulation because we are here more year-round and not just seasonal . And it could be for adopting the septic . Because right now in the farm, we fall -- we ' re not residential but we ' re not commercial . So in order to upgrade the system if we so chose, we can potentially use this funding if made available . So it will help clarify quite a few things . And I understand that part of what was being discussed with the affordable housing here . And we could take that on ourselves , on our property, to ensure that the workforce that we need to continue growing food and even now with food chain issues -- Supply Chain, excuse me, for getting our community fed . So if we could take that off some of the rental opportunities on the Town and keep it on our own property, that will afford someone else in the community a place to live . So it ' s very important to me and I appreciate that all of you got the e-mail and responded and March 1, 2022 17 became part of the agenda . Thank you . JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : Thank you . COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Thank you . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Would anybody else like to address the Town Board? MS . LUCIE STELLA : My name is Lucie Stella and I live in Orient . I was referred to you by the Historic Preservation Commission . I went there last Thursday to discuss a building in Orient, an apartment that is being expanded and renovated behind the Post Office . And I was suggesting to the Historic Preservation Committee that in addition to vetting the windows and the doors and everything that they do, that there was an issue with density and scale . That that area has been much too crowded . That they ' re expanding that building . And they said that the density and scale were not the purview of the Historic Preservation Committee and they suggested that I bring it to the Town Council . Now I know some of you during the election that house sizes is an issue for all of us . But house sizes are a little different than the issue of density . March 1, 2022 18 How much can you cram into a space? And I am wondering if you had any thoughts on who ' s purview that is , if it ' s not the Historic Preservation Committee? SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : The difference between the density and the size and scale of the structural -- MS . LUCIE STELLA : It ' s a question of whether -- obviously you guys have things in the Zoning Board of a footprint itself . How many buildings within a certain size, within an area -- this is an area that is now quite commercial between the Country Store and another eatery . And these people are now taking a barn that was completely unoccupied, turning it into a great room. Connecting it to the rest of the building . All of a sudden, you have so many buildings of a certain size in a rather narrow space . Is that the Zoning Board; is that where I go? SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : The big house legislation will address something like -- hypothetically, the issue that you just outlined . It would cover that because March 1, 2022 19 you would be taking a barn and converting it to living space . That would be counted as part of the gross floor area under the new rules . Under the new Guidelines . So it will address part of that . MS . LUCIE STELLA : It will address part of it . It is a little different than density . And it would seem to me that the Historic Preservation Committee understood the issue . Because what you ' re issuing is a Certificate of Appropriateness . Part of it is designed what is appropriate is a specific space . And they said, we can ' t do that . We can do windows and doors and whatever . So they suggested I come here . I am certainly eager to see what you do with the housing thing . Maybe there is no way for them to include density in part of their purview -- SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : The housing code, it ' s more than just footprint . More than three dimension . Footprint is two dimensional . It takes the three dimensional approach to sizing houses . MS . LUCIE STELLA : What is third March 1, 2022 20 dimensional then? SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : In other words , it ' s under the code . Really just regulates what is your lot code -- 100 , 200 . Things like that . The new code is going to calculate everything, including the first floor and the second floor . The garage . The story over the garage . All that gets calculated . The current code does not have that . MS . LUCIE STELLA : And when is this coming to a vote? SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Well , it seems like every two weeks there is another reason we have to push it off because it ' s a little technical . I would like to have it noticed in two weeks but of course we have to wrap up the farmer housing component . A couple of other things . Tighty it up . Hopefully two weeks . I can ' t speak for everybody . COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : There is no objection . It ' s a priority for us . MS . LUCIE STELLA : I know it ' s a priority for you . There is just -- the March 1, 2022 21 Historic Preservation Committee was just like, go talk to them. Thank you . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : We get that a lot . There is a lot that they want to do, but unfortunately the Historic Preservation Law doesn ' t allow . Anybody else? (No Response ) . JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : Motion to adjourn . COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Second . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : All in favor? COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye . COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Aye . COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye . COUNCILWOMAN SARAH NAPPA: Aye . JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : Aye . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Aye . (Meeting Concluded . ) March 1, 2022 22 C E R T I F I C A T I O N I , JESSICA DILALLO, a Court Reporter and Notary Public, for and within the State of New York, do hereby certify : THAT the above and foregoing contains a true and correct transcription of the Meeting held on March 1 , 2022 , via videoconference, and were transcribed by me . I further certify that I am not related to any of the parties to this action by blood or by marriage and that I am in no way interested in the outcome of this matter . IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 14th day of March, 2022 . JESSICA DILALLO