HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-08/30/2005
ELIZABETH NEVILLE
TOWN CLERK
Town Hall, 53095 Main Road
PO Box 1179
Southold, NY 11971
Fax (631) 765-6145
Telephone: (631)765-1800
southoldtown.northfork. net
REGISTRAR OF VITAL STATISTICS
MARRIAGE OFFICER
RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER
FREEDOM OF INFORMA nON OFFICER
OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK
TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD
REGULAR MEETING
MI NUTES
August 30, 2005
7:30 PM
A Regular Meeting of the Southold Town Board was held Tuesday, August 30, 2005 at the
Meeting Hall, Southold, NY Councilman Thomas Wickham opened the meeting at 7:30 PM
with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Attendee Name Or anization Title Status Arrived
William P. Edwards T own of Southold Councilman Present 7:30 PM
Daniel C. Ross T own of Southold Councilman Present 7:30 PM
Thomas H. Wickham T own of Southold Councilman Present 7:30 PM
John M. Romanelli T own of Southold Councilman Absent
Louisa P. Evans Town of South old Justice Absent
Joshua Y Horton Town of South old Absent
Kieran Corcoran T own of Southold Assistant Town Present 7:30 PM
Linda J. Coo er Town of South old De ut Town Clerk Present 7:30 PM
REPORTS
Subiect : Details
-
I. Soutbold Justice Court, Price Monthly - July 2005 m.____
2. Soutbold Justice Court, Evans m Monthly - July 2005 -.
3. Soutbold Recreation DeDartment Monthlv ReDort - Julv 2005
4. Soutbold Town's Pro"ram for the Disabled SeDtember - December 2005 Scheduled Events
5. Island Group Claim Lag ReDort 8/1104 -7/31105
PUBLIC NOTICES
COMMUNICA nONS
FOR DISCUSSION
Subiect Details
I. Request for Retaining $5000 Park and Subdivision of Bertha Pawluczyk
Playground Fee
Page I
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
2. TDR Halo Zones
3. Comprehensive Plan for Southold Town 2005 -
Draft
4. DOT/Overflow Parking At Orient Point per Councilman Edwards
5. Inter-Municipal Agreement with Shelter Island Solid Waste equipment exchange
Statements
OPENING STATEMENTS
August 30, 2005
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: I would like to call this meeting to order and stand for the Pledge
of Allegiance to the Flag. Before we start, a word of explanation that our Supervisor is taking a
well-deserved vacation in the state of Maine, so I am here tonight chairing the meeting. In
addition, our Town Attorney is out and our Assistant Town Attorney Kieran Corcoran is here.
Our Town Clerk is also out and Linda Cooper is taking her place. Another Town Board
member, Justice Evans was here with us this morning in the work session but in view of the
weather, she would have had to spend the night here if she had attended tonight’s meeting and
since there were enough of us to make a quorum, she asked to be excused. You have, I hope,
before you the agenda for tonight’s meeting. I don’t believe that there are any hearings tonight
and I believe the next order of business is to move the audit of the bills. We have before us on
the agenda a series of resolutions that we will be taking up shortly, there is an opportunity at this
time for any member of the audience who has come tonight to address the Board before we take
up these particular resolutions. Does anyone wish to address the Board on any of these particular
resolutions in front of us? Mrs. Egan.
JOAN EGAN: Good evening, my friends, Mr. Romanelli, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Wickham, Mr.
Ross, Miss Cooper and I am sorry, you don’t have your name plate there. But you do answer the
telephone.
ASSISTANT TOWN ATTORNEY CORCORAN: Mr. Corcoran.
MS. EGAN: What is it?
ASSISTANT TOWN ATTORNEY CORCORAN: Corcoran.
MS. EGAN: Good. Good evening.
ASSISTANT TOWN ATTORNEY CORCORAN: Good evening.
MS. EGAN: Now, on the front page of course you have the reports from the Justice Courts and
as usual, all you are interested in is the money receipts but you should get yourself a copy of it
and read what has happened to our Town or to come here on a Friday morning with a bullet
Page 2
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
proof vest on. Now, now, this is something I have been very interested in. 2005-513, these are
the traffic lights, I would hope. Do you know where they will be installed and when?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: I don’t know when but the location is on Route 48 and Cox Neck
Road in Mattituck.
MS. EGAN: And no where else? Not on Love Lane?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: At this stage, this particular resolution only covers that site.
MS. EGAN: Just Cox Lane, yeah. Now, 2005-512, is that a union job, Charles Wendy?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: That is the Police Advisory Committee, which is a committee of
the town of volunteer citizens who…
MS. EGAN: This is a volunteer?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Yes.
MS. EGAN: And you need somebody new there. Okay. Now, I see that a Joyce Wilkins,
Senior Clerk Typist in the Town Clerk’s office but it has Accounting. Now is she is in the
Accounting Department or is she in Ms. Neville’s department.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Which number is this?
MS. EGAN: I am sorry. 2005-516.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Town Clerk’s office.
MS. EGAN: Oh, it is in the Town Clerk’s office. Well, I hope when Ms. Rudder went away, if
she did go on that trip, that she was not as rude to other people as she was to me. Now, 517 and
518, are they both the same and where are you sending them and how much is that going to cost
us?
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: They are not the same.
MS. EGAN: They are not?
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: And these are trainings that the Building Inspector’s need to
take in order to keep their certification up.
MS. EGAN: Yeah.
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: So they are required by the state that they take so many
continuing education classes and these are two of them.
Page 3
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
MS. EGAN: Where?
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: They are in Lindenhurst. Locally. One day classes.
MS. EGAN: One day classes? Great. Okay. Now, what, 519, modify the budget for the, what
is that all about?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: This is to move money around within the budget of the
recreation department to cover a contracted services for water testing at some of our beach sites.
MS. EGAN: Uh huh. We are doing the usual borrow from Peter to pay Paul? And from Paul to
Peter.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Yes but within the department.
MS. EGAN: Yeah. Now, 520, is that a volunteer job or is that at the Human Resource Center?
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: That is at the Human Resource Center. It is not a volunteer
job.
MS. EGAN: It is a paid job. Again another change up there. Absolutely we never have a
meeting where we don’t have one or two changes up there. It has to be done, be mismanaged.
Absolutely. It is ridiculous. Now, this is a very important one. That is number 525, that is the
commissioner’s of the Orient East Marion Park. I have been sending, tried to verbally by
telephone, get in touch with Stewie Horton, who is one of the commissioner’s there, about the
disgraceful situation that we have not had a lifeguard at that beach, to the best of my knowledge,
in at least three years. So, this is now a vacancy, in other words, was there somebody else
besides Stewie Horton who was doing the work down there?
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: I don’t know, if you are talking to me, I don’t know who
Stewie Horton is, I don’t know what….
MS. EGAN: Well, Stewie Horton is the commissioner down there.
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: This resolution is appointing somebody to fill a vacancy on the
Board of Commissioners for the East Marion Park District.
MS. EGAN: Yeah.
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: So that….
MS. EGAN: So you don’t know?
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: I don’t know what you are talking about.
Page 4
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
MS. EGAN: Maybe Mr. Wickham or Mr. Ross know or Mr. Edwards. Maybe somebody might
know. In other words, you put this on the agenda….
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: Right.
MS. EGAN: …and Mr. Wickham, did you look into it? What it was about?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: No, this has to do with the Park District in…
MS. EGAN: Pardon?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: This has to do with the Park District in Orient-East Marion…
MS. EGAN: I know that. And you just put it on?
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: Here is what it is. We had a vacancy in the Park District in the
Orient-East Marion Park District. A position was advertised. A Mary Morgan happened to
apply for it.
MS. EGAN: Good.
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: She must meet the criteria. I personally did not interview her
and we are going to vote this evening…
MS. EGAN: Well, who interviewed her?
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: …for a term of office to December 31, 2005, which is really
only a couple of months away, so if Mary Morgan doesn’t work out, I am sure changes can be
made at that time.
MS. EGAN: Who interviews her?
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: Someone from the park district, I would imagine. You know.
MS. EGAN: Mr. Edwards? Did you step up to the plate and find out anything about this?
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: I know nothing about it….
MS. EGAN: You know nothing about it?
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: ….Mrs. Egan. Except that this….
MS. EGAN: You have a lot of constituents out there….
Page 5
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: ….may I finish? May I please finish?
MS. EGAN: ….in Orient who are really uptight with you people….
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: Mrs. Egan, this is a separate taxing district…
MS. EGAN: I know what it is. I realize that.
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: ….and these are commissioners who…
MS. EGAN: But it is on your agenda. It is on your agenda.
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: ….control this district. That is because the Town Board legally
names the person but in fact the selection is done, with recommendation by the Park District.
MS. EGAN: Well, I certainly think that you should have looked further into it, again, I will
repeat because it is the East Marion-Orient people and you should have realized that the Orient
people are pretty well uptight with you, dear. And you should have had the answers for me here
so that they can see it on TV and you didn’t, so you blew it. Now, what is this 526 about the
phones?
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: This is the determination of, we had someone reviewing our
phones….
MS. EGAN: Really? I hope here because they stink.
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: Okay. Well, that might be what the report says. But that is
what that is about.
MS. EGAN: Well, I am telling you, you guys have got to get into the act. And clean your act
up. Now, this 532, is Mr. Romanelli the only one who did his homework?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: He does do his homework.
MS. EGAN: Obviously Mr. Edwards….
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: What is your question?
MS. EGAN: What is it all about?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: What number?
MS. EGAN: 532.
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: This one here?
Page 6
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
MS. EGAN: 532. 2005-532. Refund, Town Attorney. Does the Town Attorney know anything
about it?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Yes.
ASSISTANT TOWN ATTORNEY CORCORAN: Absolutely.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: May I, may I…
MS. EGAN: No, he…
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Mrs. Egan, may I address this please? This is a proposal to
reduce the park and playground fee for an application which application was made during the
time when the fees were at a certain level. After that, the fees were increased. They were asked
to pay the higher fee. This resolution would permit them to pay the lower fee that was in effect
when they first made the fee, first made the payment. That is what this was about.
MS. EGAN: Good. So you did something maybe right.
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: And Mrs. Egan, it had to do with an application during the
moratorium.
MS. EGAN: Thank you for trying to answer. I will be back afterwards.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Does anyone else wish to address the Board on any of the
resolutions on the agenda tonight?
MELANIE NORDEN: Hi there. Melanie Norden, Greenport. This is about resolution 527.
And I wondered if you could explain a little bit to me about what that means?
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: I would be glad to address that point, Ms. Norden. I had become
concerned at the safety issue of cars being parked on both sides of the road. In the spring, on
th
April 29, this Board passed a resolution similar to this addressing specifically the safety of cars
parked westward of Orient Point ferry out to Ryder Farm Road. Which is one of the two
entrances to the Orient by the Sea housing development. We asked the DOT to ban parking on
both sides of the road because of the dangerous situation existed with reference to pedestrians
walking along there and the danger a pedestrian would be injured or killed. In the process of last
month, it had come to my attention that a lot of emergency personnel are also concerned that
should there be an accident out there, a major ferry accident for instance, or maybe a fire; that
there wouldn’t be a staging area for emergency vehicles to operate, both police and fire.
Therefore, because it became a very good idea to ask the DOT to do this banning of parking
based on not just the danger to the pedestrians walking along there but the greater danger of a
catastrophe and being unable to deal with it. This resolution is also brought with reference to
parking on the south side of Route 25 from the Orient fire house, the theory being that if parking
Page 7
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
is banned on both sides of 25 to Ryder Farm Road, what we will be doing is simply pushing the
parking on both sides of the road further west. I have discussed this matter with the Chief of
Police, I have met with the Commissioner’s of the Orient fire district and there is general
consensus that the situation as it exists right now could be quite dangerous. By sending a
resolution, by making this notice to the DOT, I am assured by the Town Attorney that it helps to
add to the burden on the DOT to take some kind of action because it has been drawn, because it
has been drawn to their attention, it increases their liability should there be an accident. And
generally speaking, governmental agencies hate liability that they don’t have to undertake. We
are trying to build urgency on the part of the DOT, so that is the purpose of the resolution.
MS. NORDEN: Okay. I guess I just have a few questions. I have talked to a lot of people at the
DOT. The regional commissioner’s office and several engineers and some other people and they
have assured me that there is absolutely no way that they are going to ban parking on Route 25
until such time as the Town quote-unquote resolves its problems with the ferry. And I think that
I would like to suggest since obviously the first letter went unheeded and it is very likely that
they have a position that is very different than ours, then maybe it would make some sense if
some of you actually picked up the phone or if somebody did and perhaps met with the regional
officer’s of the DOT because their position is quite firm. And I think that the idea of simply
sending yet another letter is a completely non-substantial action and will really result in no action
whatsoever. So I would like to encourage you on the Board, I mean, I as a citizen can talk to
them and they were very forthright with me and made it very clear, very disappointingly,
because you all know my position, that they are in no way interested in banning parking and they
said, frankly, that they would be jeopardizing the lives of other New York State residents and
that, in fact, they were not quote-unquote in a position to punish the Cross Sound ferry. So I
would really like to suggest that rather than writing letters, which I think are going to do nothing
right now, even if you tell them what the liability is, you are not telling them anything new. I am
sure that they have lawyers and I am sure that they have got people that are very well aware that
there might be liability issues. Maybe it would make some sense to call the regional
commissioner and request a meeting on the part of one or more members of the Town Board
because they do have a defined position, which they are happy to share with private citizens and
they would be very, in fact, happy to share with each of you what their position is.
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: Well, in response to your suggestion which is well-taken, this is
the first step in the process. There definitely has to be a meeting with the DOT, as far as the
DOT’s concern should be for public safety, it should not be for any particular private…
MS. NORDEN: Oh, I absolutely agree. But I mean, I am just reporting what they said to me.
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: I am very aware of that and the follow on to this is to get,
obviously Senator LaValle behind this as well as whoever replaces Assemblywoman Acampora,
as well as for the Supervisor and members of the Town Board to meet with the DOT. But this is
a beginning….
MS. NORDEN: Well, this is not the beginning because you actually took this step already
several months ago with no satisfaction.
Page 8
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: No, no. Not in the same way and they offered to meet with us,
they wanted to bring the ferry into the meeting. The ferry really isn’t party to the safety issue,
the ferry is only party to the business issue and this does strengthen our position, which is
purpose of the…
MS. NORDEN: Well, is there going to be a meeting with the DOT? I mean…
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: Well, nothing has been scheduled, we haven’t passed the
resolution as yet.
MS. NORDEN: Okay. Well, I would like to suggest in passing the resolution, you have already
taken this step once before. The Town Board presumably last April wrote to the DOT, there has
been no response, maybe this letter will have more teeth. I am now so sure but in fact, we
consider the situation to be critical and it is yesterday that we should have contacted LaValle; we
should have sat down with the DOT, the situation goes on and goes on and goes on. Now, we
talked a couple of weeks ago and I will switch topics a bit to resolution, I guess we are talking
about the Frank Isler resolution. And as you know, at the last meeting I talked about trying to
figure out what the strategy would be for our quote-unquote prosecutorial options, so
maybe you could describe to me what you have now decided to do. This is relevant to resolution
529.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: We have in fact, put on the agenda for tonight to, to have
additional legal counsel on exactly this topic. We had a lengthy discussion about it at the Town
Board this morning; hiring Frank Isler was relatively straight forward. There is somewhat more
that does go well beyond this resolution, and I would be glad to share it with you and others
when we are finished with the resolutions tonight. At this stage, I would like to keep the focus
just on the particular resolutions. But I think we do have information that would address the
concerns and the questions that you have.
MS. NORDEN: Okay. I will come back up after resolutions.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Would anyone else like to address the Board on any of these
matters? Mr. Wills.
FRANK WILLS: Good evening, Frank Wills, Mattituck. Could you possibly explain 530 a bit
more than the paragraph says?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: 530. Yes. I think I can explain this. The hamlet density zoning
designation in the Town of Southold is intended to promote greater density within that zoning
district. But it explicitly does not permit houses that are joined together. They all have to be
separate homes. This would remove that restriction and it proposes a, am I correct about that? It
proposes new legislation that would amend the HD zoning rules to permit joined together
houses.
Page 9
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
ASSISTANT TOWN ATTORNEY CORCORAN: If I could clarify, just very briefly. This
proposed legislation doesn’t affect any of the current density yields in place, by the bulk
schedule or anything else. What it does is in HD properties currently, you can by special
exception get attached houses or town houses but there is a little bit of a glitch in the way the HD
code permitted uses are written right now, it only allows one single family or two family house
per lot. Which means that if you want to get the yield permitted to you under the law, you have
to go subdivide and which means you could then get an end run around the residential site plan
law that we put into place last year, which continues to have the yield requirements, ERSAB
requirements, environmental reviews, deduction of wetlands, all of that plus requires you to build
a community that goes together, both transportation wise, function, form etc. What this is
intended to do is to permit you to have more than one single family or two family house per lot
in HD properties but subject to the residential site plan process. So it doesn’t give you anymore
yield or density but it facilitates the residential site plan process.
MR. WILLS: Thank you.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Yes, Melanie.
MS. NORDEN: I am confused about this resolution. I mean, we are talking about conjoined
houses and that smells suspiciously like paving the way for the Kontokosta’s proposal.
ASSISTANT TOWN ATTORNEY CORCORAN: No, you are already allowed to have town
houses or row houses or attached houses. This is a matter of whether you are going to subdivide
up a big lot or whether you are going to have a community of single homes on one lot. It is…
MS. NORDEN: And how would this prove to be of service to the vast majority tax payers in this
town?
ASSISTANT TOWN ATTORNEY CORCORAN: Well, it is a planning tool, it is a planning tool
to use a residential site plan process as opposed to a subdivision process. It doesn’t change the
density at all.
MS. NORDEN: I understand that but it does in fact change the process whereby one makes their
applications. It makes the process smoother and quicker. So I am asking like why would we, in
fact, what is the advantage of this? To anybody but a developer?
ASSISTANT TOWN ATTORNEY CORCORAN: Well, the Town has sought to implement a
residential site plan process from their own policy perspective because they think it allows them
better control of the planning of neighborhoods. That is all I can really say.
MS. NORDEN: Okay. So we are now allowed to have conjoined houses of any amount in the
current zoning, is that correct?
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: No. Melanie, let me jump in here. Your density is not
changed. Okay? You have a 40 acre parcel, the way the code is written now and it is really just
a language interpretation, okay, I think it could be interpreted, clean up interpretation in my mind
Page 10
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
but the code now says if I have a HDP, if I wanted to develop it, I have to subdivide it into
individual lots.
MS. NORDEN: Gotcha.
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: I might be allowed 20 units on my HDP’s but now I got to
subdivide it into 20 one acre lots. With individual homes. Okay? What we are trying to do here
is say, maybe some parcels of that and say okay, we are going to give you those 20 housing units
but we are going to do it more in a Founders Village style or condo style, where they can be
grouped together, clustered together on a tighter net of land with a larger, potentially end up
being a larger open space preservation. Your density didn’t change but now we are saying,
instead of giving you 20 lots and having to give you 20 separate tax numbers, let’s make it one
tax number with 20 units on it. Density equal.
MS. NORDEN: No, I understand that but the point is, that it has far reaching implications in
terms of the kinds of housing that we ultimately end up allowing in this town.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: That is true.
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: Yes, that is true. The purpose is both ways now, it gives us
benefits on preservation, it gives us benefits on density, on clustering….
MS. NORDEN: Well, we are not sure the benefits on preservation.
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: It puts you through a more rigorous environmental review.
MS. NORDEN: Well, first of all, I am not sure, I don’t know what the impacts of this would be
vis-à-vis an environmental review but I think one of the things we heard loud and clear at the
affordable housing hearing is that not only did people have a lot of questions about affordable
housing but they also had very abiding questions about the type of housing that would be out
here and the fact that it didn’t reflect for many people and you heard the groans when you saw
the Kontokosta’s photos coming up on the screen, it didn’t reflect the kind of housing that people
thought out here was appropriate for this landscape. So what I am saying is and I am asking
because this does have far-reaching aesthetic implications, I would like you to really kind of
address that.
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: I think it is….
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: May I respond? Excuse me. May I respond at this stage? We
are only putting this forward as a hearing. As a public hearing. We are not adopting this tonight.
We are going to…
MS. NORDEN: I know. But why would you do that?
Page 11
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Because, to add flexibility to the planning tools that this town
uses. Flexibility in the types of homes that add flexibility to the prices and to the appearance of
the town. Now, you and others and even we may agree that this is not such a good idea, after we
listen to what people have to say, we may decide we are not going to go there but at the moment,
it seems like an appropriate thing to do…
MS. NORDEN: But from whose perspective? That is what I am asking.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: From the Town’s perspective to introduce diversity and a range
of flexibility in the types of housing in this town.
MS. NORDEN: Right. But I am just saying that in fact, we have thus far had a cap to some
degree on co-op’s, condo’s. I am not talking, I mean, beyond affordable housing, in general we
have had real constrictions and restrictions on that type of row housing, attached housing, condo
housing, town houses. So this has far reaching implications and it speaks to aesthetics, it speaks
to a number of things, so I am trying to figure out why would we even want to put this on
agenda, why would we make, in other words, you are making a very serious, abiding decision
about the kind of housing and therefore the kind of developments that will happen in the town, so
why would you put this on the agenda unless you believed in fact that that is the kind of housing
that we need to go forward and build?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: We believe, I believe, I can’t speak for others, I believe that a
person who is, who has the right to come in for a site plan application to build houses on one
piece of property that he or she owns, should not be obliged to have individual, separate homes
on that parcel. I think it is appropriate in this town to have something like for example, Founders
Village or some other system similar to that and have the right, now, that doesn’t mean that it is
just going to happen like that. The Planning Board can review it, we may not even agree to put
this in place after we go through the public hearing but I think it is appropriate to put it out to the
public and to hold the public hearing and see if it makes sense.
MS. NORDEN: I know but how about if the public were to come forward and say 99 percent
that we don’t want it, it might go through anyway.
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: You don’t know that…
MS. NORDEN: I don’t know that but all I am saying is…
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: …(inaudible) let’s find out.
MS. NORDEN: I am just kind of trying to understand like why would we put this forward
unless as a Town Board you really believe that this was a viable option for developers going
forward.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: It is a viable option for not just the developers but for the people
who ultimately live in this community. We think it will contribute to flexibility, to affordability
and to…
Page 12
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: To aesthetics....
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: …of a whole community…
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: ….of a large piece of land.
MS. NORDEN: Well, it just seems to me that the timing seems very strange and it seems that it
is almost paving the way for the Kontokosta’s subdivision to go through.
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: No, it is not.
MS. NORDEN: But that is what it seems like.
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: Well, you are wrong, this has been worked on and talked about
for so long…
MS. NORDEN: But how come it has never gone through until this very moment?
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: You know, I have really got to be honest with you, you are too
suspicious on this. I mean, this is a good planning tool. This has been coming from, this has
come out of all the studies…
MS. NORDEN: I know, but for years we have actually had a very different position out here,
vis-à-vis this kind of housing and this kind of planning. And it is not been something that has
been incidental.
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: I actually believe this is better for some of the large HD
parcels and there is only about two or three in the town, this is actually better and this is my
personal opinion, so I am up here and I get to vote…
MS. NORDEN: Alright.
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: …in my personal opinion, I actually think it is better for some
of the large parcels than to carve it up into multi, single family houses, you know, a development
style….
MS. NORDEN: And does this extend to a certain amount of acreage before you can do this?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: It extends to any piece of property that zoned hamlet density.
MS. NORDEN: So it is not a large parcel necessarily?
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: No, no. It is a large parcel.
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: Well, it is going to have to be subdividable.
Page 13
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
MS. NORDEN: Yeah but it could be as small as 10 acres then, right.
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: But I do want you to point out…..
MS. NORDEN: No, wait. Let me just, answer the question. It could be as small as 10 acres, is
that what we are saying?
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: Ten acres would be a large HD.
MS. NORDEN: I don’t think 10 acres is a large piece of property. I mean, John mentioned large
pieces of property.
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: (inaudible) a large piece of HD property.
MS. NORDEN: Well, let me ask you then, are there any restrictions on the size of property that
is available under this particular proposed legislation? In other words, if I have a piece of
property that is three acres zoned hamlet density, can I put up row houses?
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: I don’t believe there is one.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: I don’t think that the legislation, as written, is size specific.
MS. NORDEN: Okay.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: It is zoning district specific. And to really answer the question
why this is coming up now, there is a proposed development on a piece of hamlet density
property. It is nowhere near Greenport. It is coming forward and the applicant who is in there,
who says he wants to put up really nice homes has raised this question with us and we have
thought about it, I have thought about it at least, we have talked about it with our counsel and we
have decided that we will put this out for public hearing and see if there is a purpose served to
the community, not the developer, in having a more flexible approach to the housing type in such
residential site plans. It has nothing to do with Greenport.
MS. NORDEN: Right. Okay. But I just want to put forward again that this very much changes
the type, quality and specificity of the sort of housing we have in the Town of Southold.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: It does. I agree with that. I will agree with that.
MS. NORDEN: Right. And so I want to be very clear that we are not just simply saying that we
are smoothing the way and making a few changes here and there. This is far reaching
implications for many people and for the future in terms of development here.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: If this passes….
Page 14
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
MS. NORDEN: Yes.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: …if we set a public hearing, I hope you will be there. Anyone
else like to address the Board on any of these?
CATHY TOLE: Cathy Tole, Greenport. I think even holding this hearing, which is so
extremely site specific without specifically stating the site, is setting a precedent that I find rather
disturbing. That an area that a developer wants to build on, we are going to change our way of
building, our way of approving, in order to accommodate him and say perhaps we want a
different style of housing here. What I find most appalling is that here we are again not learning
from our neighbors to the west and we are repeating time and time again on downgrading and
downgrading and downgrading and changing in order to make housing more compact. Let us
not even say denser housing. But housing more compact. And I don’t think that is the nature of
what everybody up here and out here and everywhere else says that they want to preserve in the
Town of Southold. And it just doesn’t fit into that mold, so I find saying that we are trying to
preserve our Town and all of that is somewhat disingenuous when we continue on this constant
march to accommodate developers. The other thing I heard up here is that, well, we have now
changed the reason for requesting no parking signs. So now we are saying that it is a danger and
there is some immediacy that didn’t exist five years ago or two years ago or last April. That the
letter is stating that there is now a danger. Correct?
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: No. The letter is drawing the DOT’s attention to a different type
th
of danger and a larger danger than was mentioned in the letter of April 29.
MS. TOLE: After…
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: And I recognize, let me just finish, Ms. Tole. I recognize this is
just one, essentially one weapon in a number of different tools, I am mixing my metaphors but
forgive me, in an effort basically to deal with the problem out there and to bring the ferry
company in compliance with the law.
MS. TOLE: I am not as smart as the people in DOT. Probably…
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: I doubt that.
MS. TOLE: Probably most of the people here aren’t….
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: I doubt that.
MS. TOLE: And it is transparent that we now are going to throw in this other element. Do you
anticipate success out of this new letter?
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: I don’t know but it cannot hurt and it may do good and it may
move the DOT to recognize the danger of the situation that exists out there….
Page 15
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
MS. TOLE: And did nobody recognize that danger last April or whenever it was sent, the other
letter?
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: …when we had…
MS. TOLE: Did nobody think there was danger then?
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: When we had the discussion last April, with respect to the
previous letter, the issue of emergency vehicles was not raised, to my memory. It certainly was
not raised in the letter to the DOT.
MS. TOLE: I don’t think it was raised…
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: And we think that is a stronger argument.
MS. TOLE: I don’t think it was raised probably by anyone except for the people speaking from
the audience, who have said it over and over and over for years. And I, it seems so transparent to
send this letter, it seems bordering on silly. Like I say, it is going to be seen by the same people
that saw the last letter. We were told that they did traffic surveys out there. And they didn’t see
apparently any danger or any reason to do any action, so it just seems sort of silly at this
particular time in the year and in the terms of people, to send this new letter. It just seems
absolutely a non-action. You say arsenal, like I say it is not even a pop gun in the arsenal.
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: That is your opinion.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Is there anyone else in the audience who would like to address
the Town Board on any of the resolutions before us tonight? If not, John, would you like to
begin?
MS. TOLE: I am sorry.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: What number?
MS. TOLE: Might have been 530. Melanie had asked for information about it and you had
said…
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: About what?
MS. TOLE: The Town Attorney and you said, well, you would give us more information after
you voted. That seems a little cart, horse backwards.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Not about, excuse me. Okay, we can give any information that
you want about that particular resolution. Frank Isler is a well known attorney from Riverhead.
He has worked for the Town on a number of previous cases. He has done very well in my
opinion. The Town Attorney has recommended retaining him for the actions, not the actions, for
Page 16
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
the legal strategy, developing a legal strategy that we talked about before and we just think he
will be a fine person to add to our legal team.
MS. TOLE: The strategies that were alluded to two weeks ago?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Yes. Yes.
MS. TOLE: Okay. And that was what you were going to discuss?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Yes.
MS. TOLE: Okay. That is great. Thank you very much.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: John?
Resolutions
2005-512
CATEGORY: Retirement/Resignation
DEPARTMENT: Town Clerk
Accept Resignation of Charles Wendy From Police Advisory Committee and Authorize Town Clerk to
Advertise for New Member
RESOLVEDresignation of
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby accepts the
Charles Wendy from the Police Advisory Committee effective immediately
, and hereby
advertise for a member to the Police
authorizes and directs the Southold Town Clerk to
Advisory Committee
to fill the vacancy.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-512
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Seconder
?
Adopted
????????
?? Daniel C. Ross Voter
Adopted as Amended
??????????
Defeated Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Initiator
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-513
Page 17
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
CATEGORY: Contracts, Lease & Agreements
DEPARTMENT: Town Attorney
Authorize and Direct Supervisor Joshua Y. Horton to Execute the Traffic Signal Agreements Between the
County of Suffolk and the Town of Southold
RESOLVEDauthorizes and directs
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby
Supervisor Joshua Y. Horton to execute the Traffic Signal Agreements between the County
of Suffolk and the Town of Southold
for the installation and maintenance of traffic signals at
CR 48, Middle Road @ Cox Neck Road, Mattituck, subject to the approval of the Town
Attorney.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-513
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Initiator
?
Adopted
????????
?? Daniel C. Ross Voter
Adopted as Amended
??????????
Defeated Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Seconder
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-514
CATEGORY: Close/Use Town Roads
DEPARTMENT: Town Clerk
Grant Permission for Annual CROP Walk Sponsored by the Southold Methodist and Presbyterian
Churches to be Held Sunday, October 23, 2005
RESOLVED
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby grants permission to the
Southold Methodist and Presbyterian Churchesuse the following Town Roads for the
to
purpose of holding the annual CROP Walk for Hunger on Sunday, October 23, 2005 from
the hours of 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm: Wells Avenue, Oaklawn Avenue, Pine Neck Road,
North Road to Bayview, North Bayview Road, Cedar Drive, Waterview Drive, Main
Bayview Road
, provided they file with the Town Clerk a One Million Dollar Certificate of
Insurance naming the Town Southold as an additional insured and notify Capt. Flatley within ten
(10) days to coordinate traffic control.
Page 18
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-514
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Seconder
?
Adopted
????????
?? Daniel C. Ross Initiator
Adopted as Amended
??????????
Defeated Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Voter
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-515
CATEGORY: Employment
DEPARTMENT: Accounting
Appoint Timothy F. Abrams to the Position of Maintenance Mechanic III for the Department of Public
Works
RESOLVEDappoints Timothy F.
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby
Abrams to the position of a Maintenance Mechanic III
for the Department of Public Works,
effective September 19, 2005, at a rate of $22.2079 per hour.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-515
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Seconder
?
Adopted
????????
?? Daniel C. Ross Voter
Adopted as Amended
??????????
Defeated Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Initiator
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-516
CATEGORY: Employment
DEPARTMENT: Accounting
Accept the Letter of Intent to Retire of Joyce M. Wilkins From Her Position of Senior Clerk Typist In the
Southold Town Clerk’s Office
RESOLVEDaccepts the letter of intent
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby
to retire of Joyce M. Wilkins from her position of Senior Clerk Typist in the Southold
Page 19
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
Town Clerks Office, effective October 1, 2005
.
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: And I might say on a personal basis, I worked with Ms. Wilkins
about two years on the Land Preservation Committee and she did a fine job.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-516
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Initiator
?
Adopted
????????
Daniel C. Ross Seconder
??
Adopted as Amended
??????????
Defeated Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Voter
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-517
CATEGORY: Attend Seminar
DEPARTMENT: Building Department
Grant Permission to Building Inspector Gary Fish, Building Inspector George Gillen, Chief Building
Inspector Michael Verity, and Site Plan Reviewer Bruno Semon to Attend a Training Seminar
RESOLVEDgrants permission to Building
that the Town Board of the Ton of Southold hereby
Inspector Gary Fish, Building Inspector George Gillen, Chief Building Inspector Michael Verity
and Site Plan Reviewer Bruno Semon to attend a training seminar
on September 1, 2005. The
seminar will be held at Fireman’s Pavilion, 555 Irmish Ave., Lindenhurst, N.Y. from 8:30 a.m. – 4:00
p.m.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-517
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Voter
?
Adopted
????????
?? Daniel C. Ross Initiator
Adopted as Amended
??????????
Defeated Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Seconder
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-518
CATEGORY: Attend Seminar
DEPARTMENT: Building Department
Page 20
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
Grant Permission to Building Inspector Gary Fish, Building Inspector George Gillen and Site Plan
Reviewer Bruno Semon to Attend a Training Seminar
RESOLVEDgrants permission to Building
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby
Inspector Gary Fish Building Inspector George Gillen and Site Plan Reviewer Bruno Semon to
attend a training seminar
on November 3, 2005. The seminar will be held at Fireman’s Pavilion, 555
Irmish Ave., Lindenhurst, N.Y. from 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-518
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Seconder
?
Adopted
????????
?? Daniel C. Ross Voter
Adopted as Amended
??????????
Defeated Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Initiator
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-519
CATEGORY: Budget Modification
DEPARTMENT: Recreation
Modify the 2005 General Fund Whole Town Budget
RESOLVEDmodifies the 2005 General
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby
Fund Whole Town, as follows:
FROM:
A.7180.4.100.100 Lifeguard Supplies $400.00
TO:
A7180.4.400.200 Beaches
Contracted Services
Water Testing $300.00
A.7020.4.600.200 Meetings & Seminars $100.00
Page 21
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-519
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Initiator
?
Adopted
????????
Daniel C. Ross Voter
??
Adopted as Amended
??
Defeated ????????
Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Seconder
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-520
CATEGORY: Employment
DEPARTMENT: Accounting
Accept the Resignation of Joanne Johnson From the Position of Senior Citizens Aide II
RESOLVEDaccepts the resignation of
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby
Joanne Johnson from the position of Senior Citizens Aide II at the Human Resource
Center
, effective September 7, 2005.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-520
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Voter
?
Adopted
????????
Daniel C. Ross Initiator
??
Adopted as Amended
??
Defeated ????????
Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Seconder
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-521
CATEGORY: Refund
DEPARTMENT: Town Clerk
Grant a Partial Refund of Building Permit Application Fee to Peter Boeckmann (SCTM #1000-115-14-
27)
Page 22
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
RESOLVEDgrants a partial refund of
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby
$150.00 to Peter Boeckmann (SCTM #1000-115-4-27)
as he has withdrawn an above ground
pool and attached deck from his application to the Southold Town Building Department.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-521
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Seconder
?
Adopted
????????
Daniel C. Ross Voter
??
Adopted as Amended
??
Defeated ????????
Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Initiator
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-522
CATEGORY: Employment
DEPARTMENT: Accounting
Appoint Jacob E. Bean to the Position of Seasonal Part Time Deckhand for the Fishers Island Ferry
District
RESOLVEDappoints Jacob E. Bean to
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby
the position of Seasonal Part time Deckhand
for the Fishers Island Ferry District, effective
September 1, 2005 through December 15, 2005, at a rate of $9.00 per hour.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-522
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Initiator
?
Adopted
????????
Daniel C. Ross Voter
??
Adopted as Amended
??
Defeated ????????
Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Seconder
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-523
CATEGORY: Employment
DEPARTMENT: Accounting
Page 23
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
Accept the Resignation of Denise Heyse From the Position of Planner Trainee In the Planning
Department
RESOLVEDaccepts the resignation of
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby
Denise Heyse from the position of Planner Trainee in the Planning Department
, effective
August 26, 2005.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-523
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Voter
?
Adopted
????????
Daniel C. Ross Initiator
??
Adopted as Amended
??
Defeated ????????
Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Seconder
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-524
CATEGORY: Employment
DEPARTMENT: Accounting
Release Tom Crowley From Position of Part Time Minibus Driver and Appoint to the Position of Full
Time Minibus Drive
RESOLVEDreleases Tom Crowley
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby
from his position of part time Minibus Driver and appoints him to the position of full time
minibus driver for the Human Resource Department
, effective August 31, 2005, at a rate of
$19,994.68 annually.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-524
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Seconder
?
Adopted
????????
Daniel C. Ross Voter
??
Adopted as Amended
??
Defeated ????????
Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Initiator
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
Page 24
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
2005-525
CATEGORY: Employment
DEPARTMENT: Town Attorney
Appoint Mary Morgan to Fill a Vacancy on the Board of Commissioners of the Orient-East Marion Park
District
RESOLVEDhereby appoints Mary Morgan to
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold
fill a vacancy on the Board of Commissioners of the Orient-East Marion Park District
pursuant to Town Law Section 215. Ms. Morgan’s term of office shall run through December
31, 2005.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-525
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Voter
?
Adopted
????????
Daniel C. Ross Initiator
??
Adopted as Amended
??
Defeated ????????
Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Seconder
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-526
CATEGORY: Contracts, Lease & Agreements
DEPARTMENT: Town Attorney
Authorize and Direct Supervisor Joshua Y. Horton to Terminate the Agreement Between the Town of
Southold and Phone Review
RESOLVEDauthorizes and directs
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby
Supervisor Joshua Y. Horton to terminate the Agreement between the Town of Southold
and Phone Review
regarding the placement and review of all usage services in the special rate
program through the New York State Office of General Services Aggregated
Telecommunications Contract #PS58752.
Page 25
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-526
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Seconder
?
Adopted
????????
Daniel C. Ross Initiator
??
Adopted as Amended
??
Defeated ????????
Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Voter
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-527
CATEGORY: Legislation
DEPARTMENT: Town Attorney
Request that the New York State Department of Transportation Install “No Parking” Signs on Route 25
In Orient
WHEREAS
, extensive parking along both sides of State Route 25 in the vicinity of the Cross
Sound Ferry terminal in Orient presents a real and major potential handicap to emergency
operations in the event of a major accident in the area of the ferry terminal; and
WHEREAS
, extensive parking along both sides of State Route 25 in the vicinity of the Cross
Sound Ferry terminal in Orient presents an extreme and urgent concern for the safety and welfare
of vehicles and pedestrians attempting to traverse the course of Route 25 while so obstructed;
and
WHEREAS
, in the event of an emergency at the ferry terminal, emergency vehicles from the
Orient Fire District would find their access to the emergency site obstructed if vehicles were
parked on both sides of State Route 25 anywhere the Orient Fire House and the Cross Sound
Ferry terminal; and
WHEREAS
, State Route 25 extends west from the Cross Sound Ferry terminal in Orient past a
Suffolk County Park, a New York State Park, and the Federal Plum Island facility; and
WHEREAS
, State Route 25 in this area has been designated as a Scenic Byway by the State of
New York and serves as a New York State Bicycle Route; and
Page 26
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
WHEREAS
, the existence of these conditions is inconsistent with the Local Waterfront
Revitalization Plan adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Southold;
IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold requests that the
New York State Department of Transportation do the following without delay:
(a) Immediately install “No Parking” signs along both sides of State Route 25 extending
west from the Cross Sound Ferry terminal in Orient past the County, State and
Federal parks and facilities and past the intersection of Ryder Farm Road in Orient as
needed to rectify this extreme and urgent safety concern.
(b) Immediately install “No Parking” signs along the south side of State Route 25
westward from the intersection of Ryder Farm Road in Orient to a point opposite the
Orient Fire House as needed to rectify this extreme and urgent safety concern.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-527
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Initiator
?
Adopted
????????
Daniel C. Ross Seconder
??
Adopted as Amended
??
Defeated ????????
Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Voter
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-528
CATEGORY: Employment
DEPARTMENT: Town Attorney
Retain Frank Isler, Esq. to Serve As Special Counsel In Connection with Cross Sound Ferry
RESOLVEDretains Frank Isler, Esq. at
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby
the rate of $175.00 per hour to serve as special counsel in connection with Cross Sound
Ferry
and its compliance with Town regulations.
Page 27
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-528
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Voter
?
Adopted
????????
?? Daniel C. Ross Seconder
Adopted as Amended
??
Defeated ????????
Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Initiator
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-529
CATEGORY: Local Law Public Hearing
DEPARTMENT: Town Attorney
Set 8:00 P.M., September 27, 2005, Southold Town Hall, As the Time and Place for a Public Hearing on
“A Local Law In Relation to Amendments to Uses Within the Hamlet Density Residential District”
WHEREAS
, there has been presented to the Town Board of the Town of Southold, Suffolk
th
A Local Law in
County, New York, on the 30 day of August, 2005 a Local Law entitled “
relation to Amendments to Uses Within the Hamlet Density Residential District
” now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVEDhold a public hearing on the
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold will
aforesaid Local Law at the Southold Town Hall, 53095 Main Road, Southold, New York,
th
on the 27 day of September, 2005 at 8:00 p.m.
at which time all interested persons will be
given an opportunity to be heard.
A Local Law in relation to Amendments to Uses Within
The proposed Local Law entitled, “
the Hamlet Density Residential District
” reads as follows:
LOCAL LAW NO. ______ 2005
A Local Law entitled, “A Local Law in relation to Amendments to Uses Within the Hamlet
Density Residential District”.
BE IT ENACTED by the Town Board of the Town of Southold as follows:
Page 28
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
I. Purpose – This amendment is intended to permit a variety of housing types and
arrangements in the Hamlet Density Residential District, and to subject those uses to the recently
enacted residential site plan approval process. This amendment is also intended to avoid the
result of parcels in this district undergoing subdivision, without being subject to the residential
site plan requirements that govern the design, arrangement and community integration of such
parcels, in addition to lot yield, environmental and affordable housing considerations. The
amendment would thus permit the use of more than one single family dwelling on a lot in this
district; more than one two family dwelling per lot; and multiple dwellings, townhouse, row or
attached houses. All such uses would then be subject to residential site plan approval. The
density requirements for any and all of these uses would not be changed, and lot yield in
accordance therewith would be calculated in the residential site plan approval process.
II. Chapter 100 of the Code of the Town of Southold is hereby amended as follows:
§ 100-42. Use regulations.
In the HD District, no building or premises shall be used and no building or part
of a building shall be erected or altered which is arranged, intended or designed to be used, in
whole or in part, for any use except the following:
A. Permitted uses.
(1) One-family detached dwellings, subject to residential site plan approval for more than
one such structure per lot.
(2) Two-family dwellings, subject to residential site plan approval for more than one such
structure per lot.
(3) Multiple dwellings, townhouses, row or attached dwellings, subject to residential site
plan approval.
(4) Continuing care facility and life care community. [Added 11-22-1996 by L.L. no. 20-
1996]
B. Uses permitted by special exception by the Board of Appeals. The following uses are
permitted as a special exception by the Board of Appeals, as hereinafter provided, and subject to
site plan approval by the Planning Board:
(1) Multiple dwellings, townhouses, row or attached houses.
(1) Accessory apartments in single-family residences as set forth in and regulated by §
100-31B(13) of the Agricultural-Conservation District.
(2) Bed-and-breakfast uses as set forth in and regulated by § 100-31B(14), without site
plan approval.EN
(3) Health care facilities. [Added 11-12-1996 by L.L. No. 20-1996]
III. SEVERABILITY
Page 29
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this Local Law shall be adjudged by any
court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the judgment shall not affect the validity of this law
as a whole or any part thereof other than the part so decided to be unconstitutional or invalid.
IV. EFFECTIVE DATE
This Local Law shall take effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State as provided
by law.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-529
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Voter
?
Adopted
????????
?? Daniel C. Ross Initiator
Adopted as Amended
??
Defeated ????????
Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Seconder
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-530
CATEGORY: Legislation
DEPARTMENT: Town Attorney
Authorize and Direct the Town Clerk to Transmit the Proposed Local Law Entitled “A Local Law In
Relation to Amendments to Uses Within the Hamlet Density Residential District” to the Southold Town
Planning Board and the Suffolk County Department of Planning for Their Recommendations and
Reports.Amendments to Uses Within HD
RESOLVEDauthorizes and directs the Town
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold
Clerk to transmit the proposed Local Law entitled “A Local Law in Relation to
Amendments to Uses Within the Hamlet Density Residential District” to the Southold
Town Planning Board and the Suffolk County Department of Planning for their
recommendations and reports
.
Page 30
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-530
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Seconder
?
Adopted
????????
Daniel C. Ross Voter
??
Adopted as Amended
??
Defeated ????????
Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Initiator
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-531
CATEGORY: Employment
DEPARTMENT: Public Works
Accept the Proposal of Andy Ruroede to Repair Non-Functioning Street Lights and to Train New
Department of Public Works Personnel to Install and Repair Street Lights
RESOLVEDaccepts the proposal of
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby
Andy Ruroede to repair non-functioning street lights and to train new Department of
Public Works personnel to install and repair street lights
, at an hourly rate of $45 per hour,
not to exceed $3,600.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-531
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Initiator
?
Adopted
????????
Daniel C. Ross Voter
??
Adopted as Amended
??
Defeated ????????
Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Seconder
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
2005-532
CATEGORY: Refund
DEPARTMENT: Town Attorney
Reduce the Park and Playground Fee for the Application of the Standard Subdivision of Bertha
Pawluczyk From $7,000 to $5,000 Per Lot
RESOLVEDreduce the Park and
that the Town Board of the Town of Southold does hereby
Playground fee for the Application of the Standard Subdivision of Bertha Pawluczyk from
Page 31
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
$7,000 to $5,000 per lot
, in accordance with the recommendation of the Planning Board, its
prior approval and in consideration of demonstrated financial hardship.
Vote Record - Resolution 2005-532
?
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
? ? ? ?
William P. Edwards Voter
?
Adopted
????????
Daniel C. Ross Initiator
??
Adopted as Amended
??????????
Defeated Thomas H. Wickham Voter
??
Tabled
????????
John M. Romanelli Seconder
??
Withdrawn
????????
Louisa P. Evans Voter
????????
Joshua Y. Horton Voter
PUBLIC HEARINGS
TOWN BOARD APPOINTMENTS
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Subject Details
Contract
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: And that is the last of the resolutions that we have before us
tonight. This is the part of the Town Board meeting where anyone that would like to address the
Board on any matter, we are here to listen. Yes, sir?
GERRY MCCAVERA: Good evening. My name is Gerry McCavera, I live at 1405 Leeton
Drive. I have owned a home in Southold since 1972. I would like to raise the question this
evening that should be a concern to most of the residents. We are seeing more and more of these
monster homes being built along our beachfront. Please walk down Leeton Drive and North Sea
Drive and others, I am sure, and view these houses. I wonder if you members of our government
ever take a look at the homes that you approved after they are built and the impact they have on
our neighborhoods? Builders come in and build under the guise of being residents and then flip
the property after two years for tax and other benefits. And we the tax paying residents have to
live with the result of their thoughtless, self-serving efforts. They are robbing us all of our rights
to visual access to the water, to the beach and our devaluing my property and the property of
others. These walls will soon make canyons out of our streets. They think the objective now
seems to utilize every square inch of space, every square inches of a lot and build it as high as
allowable, if not higher. It is beginning to look like Lefrak city here in Southold. The owner of
one of these houses bragged to me that they wanted to build the new house even bigger but the
town stopped them, so congratulations to you all for that. It is not only new construction but re-
models as well. There is hardly an existing house on the beach today, small, low-lying, that
when sold, the bulldozer is going to come in and a new monster is going to be built. This
practice, if allowed to continue, is a real threat to our lifestyle and will turn Southold into the
south fork, Miami Beach, the Pacific coast and a lot of other places that are suffering the same
problems. I respectfully ask the Town to please do two things. One, take a walk down Leeton
Page 32
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
Drive and look what we have created. And secondly, please then, come up with a plan that will
allow, that will not allow these people to put these monster houses with ten feet on one side and
fifteen on the other. It is a disgrace. I have pictures and I have a copy of my comments. May I
approach?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Yes, please. I would just like to comment that we have actually
tried to address this problem with some draft legislation. It has circulated through several
committees, it has come to the attention of the Town Board….
MR. MCCAVERA: I was not aware of that, sir.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: But I am not, I don’t think it goes far enough to address all of
your concerns. It does address the problem of tall buildings being built right up to the, as close
as possible to the boundary and consequently so very close to the neighboring house.
MR. MCCAVERA: Right on the boundary.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: That is the primary objective of trying to constrain that type of
construction. I really can’t say more than that. Dan, would you like to…?
COUNCILMAN ROSS: Well, we had a hearing on it this year and you could look at the
transcript, there was substantial opposition to it and….
MR. MCCAVERA: Opposition to what, sir?
COUNCILMAN ROSS: Opposition to the legislation…
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: That I described.
MR. MCCAVERA: I see.
COUNCILMAN ROSS: We referred to it as ‘large houses on small lot legislation’ that is not
what the official name was but I think it has been before this Board twice. Once, two or three
years ago and once this year, I believe it was.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: The Town Clerk would have that, a copy of that legislation in her
office…
COUNCILMAN ROSS: And the hearing.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: And the transcript of the hearing. You might like to take a look
at that and then we can talk about it further.
MR. MCCAVERA: And what is this gentleman saying to me here?
Page 33
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
COUNCILMAN ROSS: I am saying that we have considered it and there has been an attempt to
pass such a legislation….
MR. MCCAVERA: And?
COUNCILMAN ROSS: And it failed. It doesn’t mean we won’t try again but we had, we need
to, there was objections and we, I think there is further work being done on it to try to address the
objections that were raised.
MR. MCCAVERA: Well, walk down Leeton Drive, I will tell you.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Okay.
MR. MCCAVERA: Is that it?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Thank you.
MR. MCCAVERA: Thank you.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Would anyone else like to address the Board? Yes.
MS. NORDEN: On the subject of the last gentleman’s queries, my, I attended that hearing and
my memory is vastly different than Mr. Ross’s. The only vocal objection that I remember is
John Nickles, Jr. who brought a folio of interesting pictures, which might have been exceptions
to the rule, and an architect that did say that there needed to be some tweaking in terms of the
relationship of lot size to height or whatever. I did not have the feeling at the hearing at all that
there was substantial objection and in fact, I have wondered what happened to the legislation, as
I frequently wonder what happens to a lot of the proposed draft legislation that seems to fall into
a vortex, never to be heard from again. I would like to encourage the Town Board because I
think that there are many people that are very concerned about this critical issue, to bring out that
legislation, dust it off and see if you can possibly pass it during your watch. Because there were
many people at the hearing that were very concerned about it and that there might have been
some errors in terms of, I don’t even know if there were errors because I am not an architect, I
don’t know enough about roof pitch and height relative to lot line but I do know that many
people are very concerned about many of these houses and they are in my neighborhood, they
are in everybody’s neighborhood. They go right to the edges, that actually skirt the height
requirements and we of course, have a building inspector that very rarely makes it to see any of
them. So, I would like to make sure, we have two issues, the issue of course is enforcement on
the one hand of the current zoning regulations that we have, which seem to be barely enforced, if
enforced at all; the second is that in fact, we need this legislation and it was a very good,
intelligent intent on the part of the Board to put forth the legislation and I think I would really
recommend that we try to see if we can get it through, dust it off, take a look at it, tweak it. It
has now been months. And there is no reason why it should be sitting in limbo somewhere.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: May I respond to that?
Page 34
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
MS. NORDEN: Mmmhmm.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: We have, in fact, after that hearing; given it back to the architect
who raised some of those questions and he and some of the proponents and myself have actually
tweaked it, we actually do have some revised language that I think would, could go through a
public hearing and attract more support.
MS. NORDEN: Great.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: So with your encouragement and those of other people…
MS. NORDEN: Sure.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: …I would like to bring it forward again.
MS. NORDEN: And let me also say that there has often been public hearings in which there has
been great opposition and you have passed through, passed things through anyway. So it never
seems to me to be part of the….
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: The problem, in short, is to find four votes on the Board to do it.
MS. NORDEN: Oh, okay. So let’s see if we can bring that one forward again. It is really
critical, it is very important. Many people throughout the Town are concerned about it. Now I
would like to go back to the resolution regarding Mr. Isler, I guess 529 or whatever, 530. Or
528. And ask, now that we have decided to hire a lawyer, what we are going to have this
gentleman do? This is again, the subject of prosecutorial options, as you so conceived them.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: This morning we had quite a lengthy discussion and maybe this
would be a good time to bring people up to date with what the Board discussed, because I have a
tendency to just talk and talk, I have tried to condense my talk a little bit into some comments
here so that I don’t get too far off the track.
MS. NORDEN: Go right ahead.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Two weeks ago, the Supervisor I think addressing you, said that
the Board would be reviewing all of our options and that at some stage we would be making
some comments, some information available to the public. We would be reviewing all of our
options and we have begun that process. Tonight I would like to touch briefly on what the Board
has decided so far. First, as you have seen from our resolution, we have moved to retain legal
counsel. Frank Isler has served the Town well on several previous issues and the Board has great
confidence that he will be an asset with our Town Attorney and Assistant Town Attorney. A
legal team, to help us. What we are asking this, what are we asking this legal team to do for the
Town? I think that is the question that you are asking and that I would like to respond to. Let
me begin by pointing out that there are really two separate issues regarding ferry operations, one
Page 35
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
of them is the high volume traffic and the other is parking for the foot passengers. For the most
part, traffic, the high volume car traffic is generated by the large car carrying boats. As the
company’s capacity has increased, the numbers and the size of it’s boats, the traffic throughout
the Town and particularly on Route 25 in East Marion and Orient, that traffic has increased
sharply, as you know. This traffic has reached intolerable and even unsafe levels for our own
residents. But there has also been an enormous increase, in the last ten years, in pedestrian
passengers on Cross Sound boats. Most of it generated by the high speed sea jets but a lot of it is
also carried on their bigger boats. Just passengers who get on. These people require authorized
parking spaces, and it has become clear that there is not enough of those spaces. So we are
looking into two separate initiatives. One directed at controlling traffic through our
communities, car traffic and the other to provide for parking for the pedestrian passengers.
Regarding traffic. We believe that we do not have the power nor do we wish to prohibit
interstate commerce. That interstate commerce is, just is there to thrive and to benefit both sides
of the commerce. We do believe, however, that we may rationally place a capacity restriction in
our zoning code for the M-II zoning district. That is the zoning district that this site now has.
And we are asking our legal team to help us do that in a reasonably and rationally supported
way. Regarding parking, you should know that although hotels, restaurants and even B & B’s in
the Town of Southold are held to x number of parking places for y number of rooms or tables in
the restaurant, there is no such formula in the bulk schedule for ferry terminals. We need to
provide for such regulations in our zoning code. Both these initiatives require solid information
and background, so we are also planning to engage a traffic engineer to conduct a current traffic
count, we have old ones. And the parking counts relating to ferry’s operations. Finally, the
Board has determined that beginning about three weeks ago, the Cross Sound ferry has been
operating from one of its primary parcels and I am not talking about the trust parcels; one of its
primary operating parcels, without a site plan. This is just not acceptable. No business in this
Town, large or small, should be allowed to operate without a site plan. We have asked our legal
team to advise us regarding what actions to take. I look forward to updating this information
from time to time with the public, as we make progress on these several fronts. And we are open
to suggestions and comments from the public. Maybe some other Board members would like to
add to this comment? (No response) If not, we are open to public comment. I think we have
made progress.
MS. NORDEN: Well, I am concerned about the actions you are going to take. I know that you
have some concerns and you have laid them out, vis-à-vis parking and site plans. We all know
that. I mean, that is real clear that they have not been in compliance, we know, we brought that
up the last time, these guys are operating without a site plan, blah, blah, blah. So, this is not
anything new. This is not taking an action. It is not recognizing anything in particular, until we
decide what are we going to do about this business that is operating outside of our zoning laws?
Now, what action are we going to take? We know they are operating outside of the zoning laws,
we know there is a parking problem, we know, all of us have real concerns about it. But I am
asking about prosecutorial options. What are you going to do about it?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: A) Mr. Isler really hasn’t started working with us on this yet, I
mean, he was at a preliminary meeting and we have agreed to engage him as of 15 minutes ago;
we are really not in a position to discuss legal strategies. We haven’t even got our attorney with
Page 36
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
us yet. All I can say is, we are committed to finding those strategies and finding effective ones.
MS. NORDEN: Right.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: And the Board, for the first time, I believe, is pulling together in
that area and secondly, we are pulling together with the Planning Board. In the past, there has
been a tendency for the Town Board to take action seriously and the Planning Board to, not to be
fully consistent with the two Boards. I think we have found a way to pull that together.
MS. NORDEN: So again, I ask what I asked the last time, I mean, do we have any sense of
timetable? Do you, is there any sense of urgency or anything that would move you to take some
action within the next several months for example?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Let me just say this. Two weeks ago, we were asking these
questions and we said that we thought we would have the answers for you in four weeks. But in
fact, we have had them in two weeks and we have engaged in an attorney and I think there is a
lot more interest than may be apparent in moving quickly on this matter.
MS. NORDEN: Okay. I will come back in a couple of weeks and see where we are at.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: And we would like to see people continuing to express interest in
this issue.
MS. NORDEN: It is not just interest, I mean, this is a critical concern. At any time in the future,
we can declare yet another state of emergency. We have concerns that have yet to be addressed.
We have hired somebody, yes. I don’t know anything about his background. But I am now
concerned that we do go forward and we come up with a plan. And that we put some speed,
some energy and some spin behind it, so that we are not, like with the DOT letter, we are not
waiting several months later to do what we did several months ago. I think we really need to
move forward on this issue. As you know, I don’t need to tell you that people are extraordinarily
concerned about it. And frankly, we as a town do not need to solve the problems of the ferry.
There are ferries all over the country like Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship
Authority. I lived in Martha’s Vineyard for many years. You can’t even pull your car in front of
the terminal without getting moved immediately. They have off-site parking which is 15 or 20
minutes away in Falmouth. They have several different off-site areas that that ferry has actually
purchased property and really put in parking. This is a business; they know what they need to
do. They know what needs to be done and we have let this go on far too long. There are
terminals and ferries all over the country that have solved this issue very quickly. They just
create parking for the people that are taking their ferry, period. And I just think that we are
recognizing and saying, you know, we are reinventing the wheel here when we say we now
recognize how serious the problems are and blah, blah, blah, blah. The point is that there are
easy solutions. This is a company that needs to provide parking. They can purchase property or
lease property anywhere in the Town of Southold or beyond, and find a way to park those cars so
that our safety and our lives are not inconvenienced or jeopardized.
Page 37
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: I will just go one step further. This is not only about parking. It
is also about traffic.
MS. NORDEN: Sure.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: And we do approach it on both fronts.
MS. NORDEN: I know but you have also talked about that from the Board’s point of view, we
no way want to limit interstate commerce. So if it is a matter of traffic and you don’t want to
limit interstate commerce, I don’t know where that puts you, vis-à-vis traffic. I mean, you can’t
have it both ways. You can’t say on the one hand it is interstate commerce and so, you know, all
comers beware. And on the flip side say that in fact, you know, we are concerned about traffic
and safety. The real problem is that there are just too many cars. And if you are not willing to
address that issue, vis-à-vis traffic, I don’t know what else can be addressed. Maybe a few stop
signs but I don’t think it is going to make a whole lot of difference. Anyway, I will be back in a
couple of weeks to find out where we are at.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Good. Yes, Ms. Tole.
MS. TOLE: I would urge the Board to set a timetable for Mr. Isler. A rigid timetable, that you
can help us see the progress so that there are expectations that have to be met, rather than kind of
standing back from the issue. I think that’s pretty important.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: I think we…
MS. TOLE: Strategizing alone can take almost forever.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Thank you.
MS. TOLE: Traffic is just not related to the car ferries, though. And I encourage the Board also
to realize that traffic is very, very much linked to the high speed ferry. Matter of fact, I had
heard that a survey was commissioned and it is to be used somehow in election I believe and that
there was no differentiation between high speed ferry and regular ferry and I get the sense that
people want to kind of skew public opinion and I encourage this Board to be very unmoved by
that. And I …
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: All that we are really saying is that there are two separate issues
and we are not content to just address one of them. We want to address both of them.
MS. TOLE: Can I also ask, the April letter, I think it was, to DOT? Did we get an answer from
them?
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: As I mentioned earlier, the district manager of the DOT
relatively recently proposed setting up a meeting of the affected parties, by which he meant the
Town, the DOT and the ferry. It is my feeling that the ferry really isn’t a player; they may be
Page 38
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
responsible for the cars being there but the issue of safety is really an issue for the Town and the
DOT to work out. I, frankly, think that this was a disappointing response but it wasn’t a
surprising response. And at this point, we are just trying to heighten the pressure a little bit.
MS. TOLE: I would agree with you on that response but I would ask, did you ask then that the
meeting commence without the ferry?
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: I didn’t because the letter was addressed to the Supervisor and I
have not spoken with him as to what he may have done with respect to that.
MS. TOLE: Oh, okay. Yet we are moving to write another letter but we haven’t moved on kind
of dealing with the response from the last letter. I, or we don’t even know what the response
was?
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: I do not know whether the Supervisor has spoken with them. But
I think clearly a meeting would be helpful in moving the process forward.
MS. TOLE: There was some discussion on the law, what did you call it? Large houses on small
lots?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Yes.
MS. TOLE: Okay. If I remember correctly and I was here for much of that discussion, I agree
with the assessment that I would not say that there was overwhelming opposition to it, there were
some questions and some tweaking that needed to be done and one small component of the
community, I felt, was rabidly opposed to it. If I remember correctly, it also came out of the
Planning Board. That they had worked on that legislation, dealt with setbacks and height and
other….
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: They helped us with it. And so did the Building Department and
the Zoning Board. It actually came primarily, initially from the Zoning Board.
MS. TOLE: Zoning Board. Alright. That is good. Yes. Thank you for reminding me, very
much so that they were behind that. I applauded them at that hearing for coming out with such
good offerings of legislation. I was very disappointed that it was not quickly adjusted and
passed. Badaboom. But it wasn’t. And I would just like to add two other little comments about
it. We had two and a half years of moratorium and it wasn’t addressed and it wasn’t done and
that was very much about the shape of the future of our town, the moratorium. And again, the
ball was dropped. We are four years after moratorium, almost to the day…
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: What do you mean, the ball was dropped? I thought we worked
quite hard in our subdivision code, in many of the other things that we have done. And in fact,
since the moratorium has ended, the Town has not degenerated into a, I mean, a lot of these large
homes on small lots, and it is a concern to me but it is not as if when the moratorium ended,
everything fell apart.
Page 39
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
MS. TOLE: No but when the moratorium ended we had substantial interest in subdivisions that I
find alarming. And I think you would find it alarming also, Tom, the interest in the subdivisions
that we have seen discussed. Whether they are in Southold or up on North Road or Mattituck…
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: There are some concerns. And I share them but the preservation
rate in all those subdivisions is still very high. We are still preserving on the order of 90 percent,
preserving in perpetuity 90 percent of the land that is coming in for these subdivisions…
MS. TOLE: I want to make sure I understand exactly what you are saying, Tom. On the
subdivisions that are proposed in this Town, of all the property that could be developed, 90
percent of it is…
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Not proposed but acted upon. I mean, acted upon.
MS. TOLE: Oh, okay. So, here is my assessment. There is just a whole bunch of buildings that
haven’t been acted upon yet.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: One of the things that has not been acted on and I have been
trying, I have tried to put this out into the public. When there is an individual lot that cannot be
subdivided, people who own those rights have the right to come into the building department, get
a building permit and put a house on that lot. There is no subdivision required, there is no
special permits; you just come in, get a building, you have to go do the, you have to have a
proper engineer and an architect to design the house and all of that but basically, people who
own these what are sometimes are called ‘single and separates’….
MS. TOLE: Mmmhmm.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Or not further subdividable lots, those lots, people can develop.
And I don’t think we can reasonably expect that the zoning code can restrict the pace of
development of those lots.
MS. TOLE: I think the reasonable expectation is that you can control what you can put on that
property and that is this legislation that we are talking about. And this board has made much hay
about the concept of, the term came from up there first, first time I heard it, McMansions. And
we still do not have a restriction on McMansions number one and number two, you talk and talk
about affordable houses and I know we are probably simpatico here but this is part of keeping
houses affordable. That they cannot be developed disproportionately to the property that they
are on.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: I would like to take this opportunity to just canvass the Board, is
there interest on the Board of bringing a tweaked version of this legislation forward again?
COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: I would like to see how tweaked it, sure. I don’t know what
you did, I haven’t done anything on it.
Page 40
August 30, 2005
Town of Southold Board Meeting
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: When we had the hearing, I was less persuaded, I was persuaded
from what was said at the hearing, not so much that by the number of people who were for or
against it but by two or three architects in the audience who spoke up specifically to what were
clearly seemed to me to be defects in the legislation and therefore that is why we sent it back and
found some architects, one of the objectors to address it. I am anxious to see it when it comes
back
MS. TOLE: Are most all of those .
COUNCILMAN EDW ARDS: They were.
MS. TOLE: .. . things from the architects had to do with roof pitch, as I remember
COUNCILMAN EDWARDS: They had to do with and how you define the height of a
building, which you would think would be a simple thing to do but I have learned isn't a simple
thing to do. Those were the primary issues that were addressed and the law was also called
loosely the pyramid law by some people at the time. It is not dead.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: I think we have enough interest to move ahead with it again.
MS. TOLE: Rapidly? Do we have that sort of interest from the Board?
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Well, I would like to adopt the same time frame that we did On
the Cross Sound ferry.
MS. TOLE: I will be back. Thank you, Tom.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Would anyone else like to address the Town Board on any matter
of town business or town affairs tonight? (No response) If not, I thank you for your
participation
*
*
*
*
*
~fJ ~AJ
Linda J. Cooper
Deputy Town Clerk
Page 41