HomeMy WebLinkAboutLL-2002 #03Local Law Filing
NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF STATE
41 STATE STREET? ALBANY?, NY 12231
(Use this form to file a local law with the Secretary of State.)
Text of law should be given as amended. Do not include matter being eliminated and do not use
italics or underlining to indicate new matter.
Town of SOUTHOLD
LOCAL LAW NO. 3 OF 2002
BE IT ENACTED BY, the Town Board of the Town of Southold as follows:
Section 1. PURPOSE
The Town Board finds that the increased growth and development of residential subdivisions and multi-
family developments requiting site plan approval within the Town of Southold are placing severe pressure on
the water supply, agricultural lands, open and recreational space, rural character, natural resources, and
transportation infrastructure of the Town. The Town's unique environment, geography, and hydrology impose
distinct limitations on the shape, design and intensity of residential development that can be reasonably
sustained without endangering public health, safety and welfare.
The Town Board has taken steps to study and analyze the existing land use, populations trends, and
fiscal, institutional, human, environmental and agricultural resources of the Town to determine the sufficiency
&the existing land use regulations and the possible need for revision of such regulations.
The Town Board appointed the "Blue Ribbon Commission for Preserving a Rural Southold" to
recommend methods for increasing the amount of protected farm and open space lands. Approximately one
third of the Town's land is prime farmland. Ill-planned residential subdivisions and multi-family developments
subject to site plan review can significantly reduce the availability of agricultural land. Decisive measures are
needed to protect farmland while ensuring the economic viability of the agricultural industry. The Blue Ribbon
Commission has concluded its meetings and has drafted and released its findings and recommendations. The
Town Board needs time to consider and take action on the recommendations made by the Commission.
Implementation of its recommendations will likely require a substantial commitment of legal and planning
resources to develop legislation.
Southold has insufficient affordable housing opportunities for its own residents. The Town's current
policies and laws pertaining to the creation of affordable housing are not fully achieving its goals and need to be
updated. Southold needs a sound planning strategy for maintaining a stable supply of starter and/or rental
housing.
After years of study, fact gathering and drafting completion of a local waterfront revitalization program
(LWRP) for the Town of Southold is imminent. The LWRP is a comprehensive plan for the entire town. As
waterfront land has, in certain instances, been inappropriately developed, Town waters and habitats have been
negatively impacted. This is evident in the closure of shellfishing areas such as Mattituck Creek and James
Creek due to an increase in coliform bacteria from septic systems and storm water runoff, to name just two
sources. The LWRP and the Peconic Estuary Plan recommend several land use measures that could be adopted
by the Town to augment estuary protection. The Town intends to adopt or implement most, if not all, of these
recommendations. The moratorium will give the Town time to consider and implement the LWRP and the best
land use techniques for protecting its waterfront resources.
The public infrastructure that is needed to support human activity plays an important role in shaping a
community's character. The design and location of roads, schools, parking lots, subdivisions and business
centers are determinants of this character. This character is being changed by certain trends: requests to the
Board of Trustees for permits on waterfront lots, the loss of historical structures of importance to the
community through neglect or ignorance, the increase in vehicular traffic which, in mm, has increased traffic
congestion and the need for parking w/thin hamlet business centers. Regional travel patterns to and from
Connecticut and the Hamptons are also adding to the traffic congestion. The ability of SR 25 and the Town to
continue to absorb additional volumes of traffic without irreparable damage to its quality of life is an important
issue. The Town must clearly def'me the boundaries between hamlets and open areas in order to differentiate in
its treatment of land use and public infrastructure in these areas. -~
On May 21, 2002, the SCWA instituted a 6-month moratorium on the issuance ~fn~w hookups until it
can develop both a short and long-term plan for maintaining and providing a dependable supply of high quality
drinking water within the Town of Southold. The Town does not have accurate information about the maximum
amount of residential and agricultural usage that its underground aquifer is capable of sustaining. The Town
has not adopted a groundwater protection program to ensure that the sole source of drinking water does not
become contaminated by organic and inorganic compounds.
The Town's existing procedures and laws should have the practical effect of ensuring that new
development and redevelopment are in accordance with the Town's planning objectives. The four guiding
planning objectives of the Town of Southold are 1) the preservation of farmland and agriculture; 2) the
preservation of Open Space and Recreational Space; 3) the preservation of the Rural, Cultural, Commercial and
Historical Character of the Hamlets and Surrounding Areas; and 4) the preservation of the Natural Environment.
The practical reality, however, is that some of the land use regulations and procedures (specifically including,
but not limited to, the subdivision regulations and regulations governing special exception use permit and site
plan applications that include dwelling unit(s)) are not having this effect. Until the planning process is
completed, the Town Board finds it necessary to impose a moratorium on the grant of subdivision approvals and
multi-family developments that require site plan approval, as hereinafter provided. An integrated strategy that
takes into account the Town's fragile and finite natural resources and its unique geographic configuration is
needed. This moratorium will enable the Town to focus on crafting and implementing a strategy to ensure that it
actually achieves its planning objectives. This action is necessary in order to protect the character, natural
resources, public services and facilities of the Town of Southold and the public health, safety and welfare of
Town residents.
Section 2. ENACTMENT OF TEMPORARY MORATORIUM
For a period of SIX (6) months following the effective date of this Local Law after which date this Local
Law shall lapse and be without further force and effect and subject to any other Local Law adopted by the Town
Board during the SIX (6) month period:
1) the Planning Board shall not accept for review, continue review, hold a hearing or make any
decision upon any application for a subdivision, whether that subdivision apphcation was
submitted prior to or after the effective date of this law. This law applies to subdivisions
(whether major subdivisions or minor subdivisions) as defined in Southold Town Code § A-
l 06~13. The statutory and locally-enacted time periods for processing and making decisions
on all aspects of subdivision applications (including, but not limited to, sketch plans,
preliminary and final subdivision plats) are suspended and stayed while this Local Law is in
effect;
2) the Planning Board shall not accept for review, continue review, hold a hearing or make any
decision upon any application for a site plan containing DWELLING UNIT(S), whether
submitted prior to or after the effective date of this law, and shall not be subject to the time
periods specified in Town Law § 274-a and Article XXV of the Southold Town Code,
including without limitation, provisions relating to the, processing, reviewing, holding of
3
3)
hearings and the rendering of decisions. The statutory and locally-enacted time periods for
processing and making decisions on all aspects of site plan applications containing dwelling
mt(s) are suspended and stayed while this Local Law is in effect
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall not accept for review, continue review, hold a hearing on,
continue a hearing or make any decision upon any application for a special use permit which
application is also subject to Planning Board approval pursuant to the Southold Town Code
where the Planning Board is prohibited from reviewing, processing, holding hearings on and
making decisions on because of the prov/sions of this local law, whether said application was
submitted prior to or after the effective date of this local law.
Section 3. APPLICATION
This local law shall apply to ALL [new or pending] applications for either subdivision approval or
special exception use permits and site plans containing dwelling unit(s) within the Town of Southold.
Section 4.
EXCLUSIONS
This Local Law shall not apply to:
1) subdivisions for which final plat or conditional final plat approval was granted by the Planning
Board prior to the effective date of this local law;
2) setoffs as defined in the definition of"Subdivision" in Southold Town Code section A106-13;
3) Lot line applications;
4) new or pending applications for the subdivision of a parcel of property where interests or fights in
real property (the fee or any lesser interest, development rights, easement, covenant, or other
contractual right ) to a portion of that parcel have been sold or gifted (for purposes of permanent
preservation) to either the Town of Southold (pursuant to either chapter 6, 25 or 59 of the SoUthold
Town code); the County of Suffolk; the Peconic Land Trust or the Nature Conservancy, prior to the
effective date of this local law;
5) new or pending applications for the subdivision of a parcel of property where an executed contract
(dated prior to the effective date of this local law) exists to either sell or gift interests or fights in
real property (the fee or any lesser interest, development rights, easement, covenant, or other
contractual right ) to a portion of that parcel (for purposes of permanent preservation) to either the
Town of Southold (pursuant to either chapter 6, 25 or 59 of the Southold Town code); the County
4
of Suffolk; the Pecon~ ~ Trust or the Nature Conservancy;._
6)
7)
8)
new subdivision applications where an applicant has entered into a contract (dated after the effective
date of this local law) to either sell or gift interests or rights in real property (the fee or any lesser
interest, development rights, easement, covenant, or other contractual right ) to a portion of that
parcel(for purposes of permanent preservation) to either the Town of Southold (pursuant to either
chapter 6, 25 or 59 of the Southold Town code); the County of Suffolk; the Peconic Land Trust or
the Nature Conservancy; provided that that portion of the property on which the interests or rights
to property are being sold or gifted encompasses at least seventy five percent (75%) of the entire
parcel. The following areas are not to be included in the calculation of the 75% threshold: that
portion of the parcel which is wetlands (as defined by Chapter 97 of the Southold Town Code),
streams, creeks, ponds, slopes over 15%, underwater land, land encumbered by easements or other
restrictions preventing use of such land for construction of buildings or development or land within
the coastal erosion hazard area as def'med by Chapter 37 of the Southold Town Code.;
a site plan application for a two-family dwelling;
a site plan application for a bed-and-breakfast;
a site plan application for an accessory aparUnent(s);
Section 5. CONFLICT WITH STATE STATUTES AND AUTHORITY TO SUPERSEDE
To the extent that any provisions of this Local Law are in conflict with or are construed as inconsistent
with the provision of New York State Town Law this Local Law supersedes, amends and takes precedence over
NYS Town Law pursuant to the Town's municipal home rule powers, pursuant to Municipal Home Rule Law §
10(1)(ii)(d)(3); § 10(1)(ii)(a)(14) and § 22 to supercede any inconsistent authority.
In particular, this local law supersedes Town Law § 276, Town Law § 278, and Southold Town Code
§§§ A106-21, A106-22, A106-23 and A106-24, which require that the planning board act upon, hold hearings
on, and make decisions concerning subdivision applications (including, but not limited to, sketch plans,
preliminary and final subdivision plats) within specified time periods. This local law suspends and stays the
running of time periods for processing, acting upon, holding hearings on, making decisions and taking action on
such subdivision applications (including, but not limited to, sketch plans, preliminary and final subdivision
plats) provided for in those laws.
And, to the extent and degree any provisions of this Local Law are construed as being inconsistent with
the provisions of Town Law §§§§ 267, 267-a, 267-b, 267-c or 282 relating to the authority to grant variances,
5
waivers or other relief fi:om this E,~c, .)aw, this Local Law is intended to ~ x.i ~de and amend any said
inconsistent authority.
And, to the extent and degree any provisions of this Local Law are construed as being inconsistent with
the provisions of Town Law § 274-a and the provisions and requirements set forth in Article XXV of the
Southold Town Code, which require that the Planning Board process, review, hold heatings on, and act upon
applications for site plans within specified time periods, this local law suspends and stays the running of time
periods for processing, review, holding hearings on, making decisions, and taking action on such applications
provided for in those laws and is intended to supersede and amend any said inconsistent authority.
And to the extent and degree any provisions of this Local Law are construed as being inconsistent with
the provisions of Town Law § § 267-a and 274-b and the provisions of Article XXVI of the Southold Town
Code, which require that the Zoning Board of Appeals act upon applications for special exception use permits
within specified time periods, this local law suspends and stays the running of time periods for processing,
reviewing, holding hearings on and making decisions on such applications provided for in those laws and is
intended to supercede and said inconsistent authority.
Section 6. APPEAL PROCEDURES
a. The Town Board shall have the authority to vary or waive the application of any provision of this
Local Law, in its legislative discretion, upon its determination, that such variance or waiver is required to
alleviate an extraordinary hardship affecting a parcel of property. To grant such request, the Town Board must
find that a variance or waiver will not adversely effect the purpose of this local law, the health, safety or welfare
of the Town of Southold or any comprehensive planning being undertaken in the Town. The Town Board shall
take into account the existing land use in the immediate vicinity of the property and the impact of the variance
or waiver on the water supply, agricultural lands, open and recreational space, rural character, natural resources,
and transportation infrastructure of the Town. The application must comply with all other applicable provisions
of the Southold Town Code.
b. Any request for a variance or waiver shall be filed with the Town Clerk and shall include a fee of
two hundred fifty ($250.00) dollars for the processing of such application, along with copies of such plat
showing all required improvements in accordance with the procedures of §A106-25, § A106-27 and Articles Ill
and 1V of Chapter A106 of the Southold Town Code.
c. All such applications shall, within five (5) days be referred to the Planning Board, which shall
have thirty (30) days following receipt to make a recommendation to approve or disapprove a variance or
waiver of this Local Law.
The al¢e~ }on and recommendation shall be tt, z ~ed to the Town Board which
may conduct a public hearing and make a final decision on the application, with or without conditions. Final
approval is reserved to the absolute legislative discretion of the Town Board
Section 7. SEVERABILITY
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 effect the validity of this law as a whole or any part
thereof other than the part so decided to be unconstitutional or invalid.
Section 8. EFFECTIVE DATE
This Local Law shall take effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State as provided by law.
(If additional space is needed, attach pages the same size as this sheet, and number each.)
DOS-239(Rev. 11/99) (1)
7
(Complete the certification in the paragraph that applies to the filing of this local law and
strike out that which is not applicable.)
1. (Final' adoption by local legislative body only.)
I hereby certify that the local law annexed hereto, designated as local law No. 3 of 20 02 of the
rr, ...... wr~:,.~er ....~ m~ of SOUTHOLD was duly passed'by the
TOWN BOARD on AUGUST 13 ~ 20 02 , in accordance with the applicable provisions of law.
2. (Passage by local legislative body with approval, no disapproval or repassage after disapproval by the Elective
Chief Executive Officer*.)
I hereby certify that the local law annexed hereto, designated as local law No. of 20
of the (County)(City)(Town)(Village) of was duly passed by the
on 20 , and was (approved)(not approved)(repassed after
disapproval) by the and was deemed duly adopted on 20 ,
in accordance with the applicable provisions of law.
3. (Final adoption by referendum.)
I hereby certify that the local law annexed hereto, designated as local law No. of 20
of the (County)(City)(Town)(Village) of was duly passed by the
on 20__., and was (approved)(not approved)(repassed after
disapproval) by the on 20 Such local law was submitted
to the people by reason of a (mandatory)(permissive) referendum, and received the affrrmafive vote of a majority of
the qualified electors voting thereon at the (general)(special)(annual) election held on 20 , in
accordance with the applicable provisions of law.
4. (Subject to permissive referendum and final adoption because no valid petition was fried requesting
referendum.)
I hereby certify that the local law annexed hereto, designated as local law No. of 20 of the
(County)(City)(Town)(Village) - of was duly passed by the
on 20__ , and was (approved)(not approved) (repassed after
disapproval) by the on 20 Such local law was subject to
permissive referendum and no valid petition requesting such referendum was filed as of 20 , in
accordance with the applicable provisions of law.
* Elective Chief Executive Officer means or Includes the chief executive officer of a county elected on a county- wide
basis or, If there be none, the chairperson of the county legislative body, the mayor of a city or village, or the supervisor of
a town where such officer is vested with the power to approve or veto local laws or ordinances.
(2)
8
5. (City local law concerning Charter revision proposed by petition.)
I hereby certify that the local law annexed hereto, designated as local law No. ~f20
of the City of having been submitted to referendum pursuant to the prove,, s ~
section (36)(37) of the Municipal Home Rule Law, and having received the affirmative vote of a majority ot~ oI
electors of such city voting thereon at the (special)(general) election held on ~ualified
became operative. --~,
6. (County local law concerning adoption of Charter.)
I hereby certify that the local law annexed hereto, designated as local law No of 20 _
of the County of State of New York, having been submitted to the'
at the General Election of November 20 , pursuant to subdivisions 5 and 7 of section q
Municipal Home Rule Law, and having received the affirmative vote of a majority of the qualified electors of the2
said county as a unit and a majority of the qualified electors of the towns of said county considered as a unit votir
general election, became operative.
(If any other authorized form of final adoption has been followed, please provide an appropriate certificafii
I further certify that I have compared the preceding local law with the original on file in this office and that the sm
correct transcript therefrom and of the whole of such original local law, and was finally adopted in the manner im
in paragraph 1 , above.
Clerk o~e ~}t~ty legislative body. City. ~own or Village Clerk
or officer designated by local legislative body
Elizabeth A. Neville, Town Clerk
(Seal) Date: __August 13, 2002
(Certification to be executed by County Attorney, Corporation Counsel, Town Attorney, Village Attorney or
other authorized attorney of locality.)
STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK
I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the foregoing local law contai~e'e~rrect text and that all proper proceedings
have been had or taken for the enactment of the local law annex~ __
~. ~--_-- -.: --_ :rney
G~goryT~ Esq., Town Attorney
Title
Town of
SOUTHOLD
Date:
O)
August l3,2002
STATE OF NEW YORK
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
4 I STATE STREet
ALBANY, NY 1223 I-O00 I
I CBVED
SouthoIcl Town Clerk
GEORGE E. PATAK~
GOVERNOR
RANDY A. DANIELS
SECRETARY OF STATE
September 6, 2002
ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE
TOWN HALL 53095 Main Road
P.O. Box 1179
SOUTHOLD, NY 11971
RE: Town of Southold, Local Law 3, 2002, filed 08/15/2002
The above referenced material was received and filed by this office as
indicated. Additional local law filing forms will be forwarded upon
request.
Sincerely,
Linda Lasch
Principal Clerk
State Records & Law Bureau
(518) 474-2755
WWW.DOS.STATE.N¥.US · E-HAIL: INFO@DOS STATE.NY.US
DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK
ROBERT d. GAFFNEY
SUFFOLK COUNTY EXECUTIVE
July 15, 2002
THOMAS ISLES, AICP
DIRECTOR OF PLANNING
Town Clerk
Town of Southold
Gentlemen:
Applicant:
Zoning Action:
Public Hearing Date:
S.C.P.D. File No.:
Town of Southold
Temporary Moratorium
7/30/02
SD-02-1
Pursuant to the requirements of Sections A 14-14 to 23 of the Suffolk County Administrative
Code, the above referenced application which has been submitted to the Suffolk County Planning
Commission is considered to be a matter for local determination as there is no apparent significant
county-wide or inter-community impact(s). A decision of local determination should not be
construed as either an approval or disapproval.
Very truly yours,
Thomas Isles
Director of Planning
GGN:cc
cc: Town Attorney
G:~C C H ORNY~ZO NING~ZONING~WO RKING~LD2002.JAN~J U L\SD02-1 .JUL
S/s Gerald G. Newman
Chief Planner
TOWN ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
LOCATION
H. LEE DENNISON BLDG. - 4TH F'LOOR
I O0 VL:-FERANS MEMORIAL HIGHWAY
HAILING ADDRESS
· P.O, BOX6100 ·
HAUPPAUGE, NY 11788-009g
(631)853-5190
TELECOPIER(631)853-4044
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Town Hall, 53095 Main Road
P.O. Box 1179
Southold, New York 11971
Fax (631) 765-6145
Telephone (631) 765-1800
southoldtown.northfork.ne~
OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK
TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
August 14, 2002
CERTIFIED MAIL
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
New York State Department of State
State Records and Law Bureau
41 State Street
Albany, NY 12231
Local Law Number 3 of 2002
Town of Southold, Suffolk County
Dem- Sirs:
h~ accordance with. provisions of Section 27 of the Municipal Home Rule Law, I am
enclosing herewith certified copies of Local Law Number 3 of 2002 of the Town of Southold
suilable for filing in your office.
I would appremate if you would send me a receipt indicating the filing of the enclosures.
in your office. Thank you.
Very truly yours,
Enclosures
cc: Town Attorney
Elizabeth A. Neville
Southold Town Clerk
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STATE OF NEW YORK)
)SS:
CO_..UNTY O_F SUFFpLK)
..~,~~.~~'~".,~_.. of Mattituck, in said
county, being duly swum, says that be/she is Principal
clerk of THE SUFFOLK TIMES, a weekly newspaper, pub-
lished at Mattituck, in the Town of Southold, County of
Suffolk and State of New York, and that the Notice of which
the annexed is a printed copy, has been regularly pub-
· lished in said Newspaper once each week
for / weeks successively, commencing
on the // day
of x...7~&.)/ 200-~.,
~' P"fincipal Clod
Swum to before me this
day of
LAURA E, BONDARCHUK
Notary Public, State of .New York
No 01 B06067958
Qualified in Suffolk County
My Commission Expires Dec. 24,
STATE OF NEW YORK)
SS:
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK)
ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE, Town Clerk of the Town of Southold, New York being
duly sworn, says that on the t:~66 day of ~'-~/t~ ,2002, she affixed a notice
of which the annexed printed notice is a tree copy, in a proper and substantial manner, in
a most public place in the Town of Southold, Suffolk County, New York, to wit: Town
Clerk's Bulletin BOard, 53095 Main Road, Southold, New York.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TO BE HELD ON:
July 30, 2002, 8:00 pm
Local Law in relation to a Temporary Moratorium on the Processing, Review of,
and making Decisions on applications for. Maior Subdivisions~ Minor Subdivisions,
and Special Use Permits and Site Plans containing Dwelling Unit(s) in the Town of
Southold
' fi, J"Elizabeth A. N~ville ' -
Southold Town Clerk
Sworn before me this
~ day of(Q~L~ ,2002.
~N~blic ~
CORRE-CTED COVER SHEET
RE: ATTENDANCE AT P.H.
SOUTHOLD TOWN BOA~
PUBLIC HEARING
July 30, 2002
8:00 P.M
HEARING ON "A LOCAL LAW IN RELATION TO A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE
PROCESSING, REVIEW OF AND MAKING DECISIONS ON APPLICATIONS FOR MAJOR
SUBDIVISIONS, MINOR SUBDIVISIONS, AND SPECIAL USE PERMITS AND SITE PLANS
CONTAINING DWELLING UNIT(S) IN THE TOWN OF SOUTHOLD."
Present:
Supervisor Joshua Y. Horton
Justice Louisa P. Evans
Councilman William D. Moore
Councilman John M. Romanell
Councilman Craig A. Richter
Councilman Thomas H. Wickham
Town Clerk Elizabeth A. Neville
Town Attorney Gregory A. Yakaboski
COUNCILMAN WlCKHAM: NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that there has
been presented to the Town Board of the Town of Southold, Suffolk County, New York, on the 2nd day
of July 2002 a Local Law entitled "Local Law in relation to a Temporary Moratorium on the
Processing~ Review of~ and making Decisions on applications for Maior Subdivisions~ Minor
Subd,ivisions~ and Spe.ci.al Use Permits and Site Plans containing Dwelling Unit(s) in the Town of
Southold', and
NOTICE IS FURTHER'GIVEN that the Town Board of the Town of Southol.d.will hold a public
l~earing on the a~)res/iid LOcal Law at the Southold Town Hall, 53095 Main Ro~:~outhold, New
York, on the 30th day of July 2002 at 8:00 p.m. at which time all interested pe}son~ will be given an
oppommity to be heard.
This proposed "Local Law in relation to a Temporary Moratorium on the Processing~ Review of~
and making Decisions on aoolications for Ma.ior Subdivisions~ Minor Subdivisions~ and Special
Use Permits and Site Plans containing Dwellimt Unit(s) in the Town of Southold', which reads as
follows:
LOCAL LAW NO.
2O02
A Local Law in relation to a Temporary Moratorium on the Processing, Review of, and making
Decisions on applications for Major Subdivisions, Minor Subdivisions, and Special Use Permits and
Site Plans containing Dwelling Unit(s) in the Town of Southold
SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD
PUBLIC HEARING
July 30, 2002
8:00 P.M.
HEARING ON "A LOCAL LAW IN RELATION TO A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE
PROCESSING, REVIEW OF AND MAKING DECISIONS ON APPLICATIONS FOR MAJOR
SUBDIVISIONS, MINOR SUBDIVISIONS, AND SPECIAL USE PERMITS AND SITE PLANS
CONTAINING DWELLING UNIT(S) IN THE TOWN OF SOUTHOLD."
kX~resent: Supervisor Joshua Y. Horton ,
~ Cc~uncilman Thomas H. Wickham ' ~' "' 2. ,, 5-"~
- -~, Councilman John M. Romanelli ' .~2
~. XxCouncilman William D. Moore..- ~i ~
- ' ~xce Louisa P Evans ' ~ ~ ~ '
Tow~beth A. Neville
Town Attorney ~ry A. Yakaboski
_Absent: _~uTi]mqn_C_[aigA. Richter ~
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM'. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that'"&ere has been
presented
to
the
Town Board of the T~nty, New York, onXthe~day of July 2002 a Local
Law entitled "Local Law in relation to a Temporary Moratorium on the rocessing, Review of~
and making Decisions on applications for Major Subdivisions~ Minor Subd~'l'vi~i.ons~ and Special
Use Permits and Site Plans containing Dwelling Unit(s) in the Town of Southold", and
NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that the Town Board of the Town of Southold will hold a public
hearing on the aforesaid Local Law at the Southold Town Hall, 53095 Main Road, Southold, New
York, on the 30th day of,Inly 2002 at 8:00 p.m. at which time all interested persons will be given an
opportunity to be heard.
This proposed "Local Law in relation to a Temporary Moratorium on the Processing, Review of,
and making Decisions on applications for Maior Subdivisions, Minor Subdivisions~ and Special
Use Permits and Site Plans containing Dwelline Unit(s) in the Town of Southold", which reads as
follows:
LOCAL LAW NO.
2002
A Local Law in relation to a Temporary Moratorium on the Processing, Review of, and making
Decisions on applications for Major Subdivisions, Minor Subdivisions, and Special Use Permits and
Site Plans containing Dwelling Unit(s) in the Town of Southold
BE IT ENACTED BY, the Town Board of the Town of Southold as follows:
2
Section 1. PURPOSE
The Town Board finds that the increased growth and development of residential subdivisions
and multi-family developments requiring site plan approval within the Town of Southold are placing
severe pressure on the water supply, agricultural lands, open and recreational space, rural character,
natural resources, and transportation infrastructure of the Town. The Town's unique environment,
geography, and hydrology impose distinct limitations on the shape, design and intensity of residential
development that can be reasonably sustained without endangering public health, safety and welfare.
The Town Board has taken steps to study and analyze the existing land use, populations trends,
and fiscal, institutional, human, environmental and agricultural resources of the Town to determine the
sufficiency of the existing land use regulations and the possible need for revision of:such regulations.
The Town Board appointed the "Blue Ribbon Commission for Preserving a Rural Southold', to
recommend methods for increasing the amount of protected farm and open space lands. Approximately
one third of the Town's land is prime farmland. Ill-pla~qned residential subdivisions and multi-family
developments subject to site plan review can signifi_cantly reduce the availability ~. ;~ric. ult~al land.
Decisive~measures are needed to protect farmland.w.h(~ehsuring the economic~i~t~,'o~ ~he . - ·
agricultural ~ndustry. The Blue R~bbon Comrmss~nh~s cortcluded ~ts meetings and has drafted and ~"
released its findings and recommendations. The Town Bo~ needs time to consid~i~and take action
on the recommendations made by the Commission. Implementation of its reconfmendati6hs ~ill likely'"
require a substantial commitment of legal and planning resources to develop legislation.
Southold has insufficient affordable housing opportunities for its own residents. The Town's
current policies and laws pertaining to the creation of affordable housing are not fully achieving its
goals and need to be updated. Southold needs a sound planning strategy for maintaining a stable
supply of starter and/or rental housing.
After years of study, fact gathering and drafting completion of a local waterfront revitalization
program (LWRP) for the Town of Southold is imminent. The LWRP is a comprehensive plan for the
entire town. As waterfront land has, in certain instances, been inappropriately developed, Town waters
and habitats have been negatively impacted. This is evident in the closure of shellfishing areas such as
Mattituck Creek and James Creek due to an increase in coliform bacteria from septic systems and
storm water runoff, to name just two sources. The LWRP and the Peconic Estuary Plan recommend
several land use measures that could be adopted by the Town to augment estuary protection. The
Town intends to adopt or implement most, if not all, of these recommendations. The moratorium will
give the Town time to consider and implement the LWRP and the best land use techniques for
protecting its waterfront resources.
The pubhc infrastructure that is needed to support human activity plays an important role in
shaping a community's character. The design and location of roads, schools, parking lots, subdivisions
and business centers are determinants of this character. This character is being changed by certain
trends: requests to the Board of Trustees for permits on waterfront lots, the loss of historical structures
of importance to the community through neglect or ignorance, the increase in vehicular traffic which,
in turn, has increased traffic congestion and the need for parking within hamlet business centers.
Regional travel patterns to and from Connecticut and the Hamptons are also adding to the traffic
congestion. The ability of SR 25 and the Town to continue to absorb additional volumes of traffic
without irreparable damage to its quahty of life is an important issue. The Town must clearly define
the boundaries between hamlets and open areas in order to differentiate in its treatment of land use and
public infrastructure in these areas.
On May 21, 2002, the SCWA instituted a 6-month moratorium on the issuance of new hookups
until it can develop both a short and long-term plan for maintaining and providing a dependable supply
of high quality drinking water within the Town of Southold. The Town does not have accurate
information about the maximum amount of residential and agricultural usage that its underground
aquifer is capable of sustaining. The Town has not adopted a groundwater protection program to
ensure that the sole source of drinking water does not become contaminated by organic and inorganic
compounds.
The Town's existing procedures and laws should have the practical effect of ensuring that new
development and redevelopment are in accordance with the Town's planning objectives. The four
guiding planning objectives of the Town of Southold are 1) the preservation of farmland and
agriculture; 2) the prc. scrvalion of Open Space and Recreational Space; 3) the preservation of the
Rural, Cultural, Commercial and Historical Character of the Hamlets and Surrounding Areas; and 4)
the preservation of the Natural Environment. The practical reality, however, is that some of the land
use regulations and procedures (specifically including, but not limited to, the subdivision regulations
and regulations governing special exception use permit and site plan applications that include dwelling
unit(s)) are not having this effect. Until the planning process is completed, the Town Board finds it
necessary to impose a moratorium on the grant of subdivision approvals and multi-family
developments that require site plan approval, as hereinafter provided. An integrated strategy that - -
takes into account the Town' s fragile and finite natural resources and its unique geographic
configuration is needed. This moratorium will enable the Town to focus on crafting and implementing
a strategy to ensure that it actually achieves its planning objectives. This action is necessary in order to
protect the character, natural resources, public services and facilities of the Town of Southold and the
public health, safety and welfare of Town residents.
Section 2. ENACTMENT OF TEMPORARY MORATORIUM
For a period of SIX (6) months following the effective date of this Local Law after which date
this Local Law sha].l lapse and-be without further force and effect and subject to any other Local Law
adopted by the Town Board during the SIX (6) month period:
1) the Planning Board shall not accept for review, continue review, hold a hearing or
make any decision upon any application for a subdivision, whether that subdivision
application was submitted prior to or after the effective date of this law. This law
applies to subdivisions (whether major subdivisions or minor subdivisions) as defined
in Southold Town Code § A-106-13. The statutory and locally-enacted time periods
for processing and making decisions on all aspects of subdivision applications
(including, but not limited to, sketch plans, preliminary and final subdivision plats)
are suspended and stayed while this Local Law is in effect;
2) the Planning Board shall not accept for review, continue review, hold a heating or
make any decision upon any application for a site plan containing DWELLING
UNIT(S), whether submitted prior to or after the effective date of this law, and shall
not be subject to the time periods specified in Town Law § 274-a and Article XXV
of the Southold Town Code, including without limitation, provisions relating to the,
processing, reviewing, holding of hearings and the rendering of decisions. The
statutory and locally-enacted time periods for processing and making decisions on all
aspects of site plan applications containing dwelling unit(s) are suspended and stayed
while this Local Law is in effect
3) The Zoning Board of Appeals shall not accept for review, continue review, hold a
heating on, continue a hearing or make any decision upon any application for a
special use permit which application is also subject to Planning Board approval
pursuant to the Southold Town Code where the Planning Board is prohibited from
reviewing, processing, holding hearings on and making decisions on because of the
provisions of this local law, whether said application was submitted prior to or after
the effective date of this local law.
Section 3. APPLICATION
This local law shall apply to ALL [new or pending] applications for either subdivision approval or
special exception use permits and site plans containing dwelling unit(s) within the Town of Southold.
Section 4. EXCLUSIONS
This Local Law shall not apply to:
1) subdivisions for which final plat or conditional final plat approval was granted by the
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
Planning Board prior to the effective date of this local law;
setoffs as defined in the definition of "Subdivision" in Southold Town Code section A106-
13;
Lot line applications;
new or pending apPlications for the subdivision of a parcel of property where interests or
rights in real property (the fee. or any lesser interest, development rights, easement,
co[en.ant, or other contractual right ) to a portion of that parcel have been sold or gifted (for
purposes of permanent preservation) to either the Town of Southold (pursuant to either
chapter 6, 25 or 59 of the Southold Town code); the County of Suffolk; the Peconic Land
Trust or the Nature Conservancy, prior to the effective date of this local law;
new or pending applications for the subdivision of a parcel of property where an executed
contract (dated prior to the effective date of this local law) exists to either sell or gift
interests or rights in real property (the fee or any lesser interest, development rights,
easement, covenant, or other contractual right ) to a portion of that parcel (for purposes of
permanent preservation) to either the Town of Southold (pursuant to either chapter 6, 25 or
59 of the Southold Town code); the County of Suffolk; the Peconic Land Trust or the
Nature Conservancy;
new subdivision applications where an applicant has entered into a contract (dated after the
effective date of this local law) to either sell or gift interests or rights in real property (the
fee or any lesser interest, development rights, easement, covenant, or other contractual right
) to a portion of that parcel(for purposes of permanent preservation) to either the Town of
Southold (pursuant to either chapter 6, 25 or 59 of the Southold Town code); the County
of Suffolk; the Peconic Land Trust or the Nature Conservancy; provided that .that portion
of the property on which the interests or rights to property are being sold or gifted
encompasses at least seventy five percent (75%) of the entire parcel. The following areas
are not to be included in the calculation of the 75% threshold: that portion of the parcel
which is wetlands (as defined by Chapter 97 of the Southold Town Code), streams, creeks,
ponds, slopes over 15%, underwater land, land encumbered by easements or other
restrictions preventing use of such land for construction of buildings or development or
land within the coastal erosion hazard area as defined by Chapter 37 of the Southold Town
Code.;
a site plan application for a two-family dwelling;
a site plan application for a bed-and-breakfast;
a site plan application for an accessory apartment(s);
Section 5. CONFLICT WITH STATE STATUTES AND AUTHORITY TO SUPERSEDE
To the extent that any provisions of this Local Law are in conflict with or are construed as
inconsistent with the provision of New York State Town Law this Local Law supersedes, amends and
takes precedence over NYS Town Law pursuant to the Town's municipal home rule powers, pursuant
to Municipal Home Rule Law 8 10(1)(ii)(d)(3); 8 10(1)(ii)(a)(14) and 8 22 to supercede any
inconsistent authority.
In particular, this local law supersedes Town Law 8 276, Town Law 8 278, and Southold Town
COde 888 A106-21, A106-22, A106-23 and A106-24, which require that the planning board act upon,
hold hearings on, and make decisions concerning subdivision applications (includi,ng, but not limited
to, sketch plm~s, prclimi nary and final subdivision plats) within specified time periods. This local law
suspends and slavs the runnin~ of time periods for processing, acting upon, holding hearings on,
making decisions and taking action on such subdivision applications (including, but not limited to,
sketch plans, :preliminary and final subdivision plats) provided for in those laws.
And, to the extent and degree any provisions of this Local Law are construed as being
inconsistent with the provisions of Town Law §8§§ 267, 267-a, 267-b, 267-c or 282 relating to the
authority to grant Variances, waivers or other relief from this Local Law, this. Local Law is intended to
' supersede and amend any said inconsistent authority. ~..~, ~':L
And, to the extent and degree any proviSions of this Local Law are construed as l~eing
inconsistent with the provisions of Town Law § 274-a and the provisions and requirements set forth in
Article XXV ol' the Southold Town Code, which require that the Planning Board process, review, hold
hearings on, and act upon applications for site plans within specified time periods, this local law
suspends and stays the running of time periods for processing, review, holding hearings on, making
decisions, and taking action on such applications provided for in those laws and is intended to
supersede and amend any said inconsistent authority.
And to the extent and degree any provisions of this Local Law are construed as being
inconsistent with the provi,sions of Town Law §8 267-a and 274-b and the provisions of Article XXVI
of the Southold Town Code, which require that the Zoning Board of Appeals act upon applications for
special exception use permits within specified time periods, this local law suspends and stays the
running of time periods for processing, reviewing, holding hearings on and making decisions on such
applications provided for in those laws and is intended to supercede and said inconsistent authority.
Section 6. APPEAL PROCEDURES
a. The Town Board shall have the authority to vary or waive the application of any
provision of this Local Law, in its legislative discretion, upon its determination, that such variance or
waiver is required to alleviate an extraordinary hardship affecting a parcel of property. To grant such
request, the Town Board must find that a variance or waiver will not adversely effect the purpose of
this local law, the health, safety or welfare of the Town of Southold or any comprehensive planning
being undertaken in the Town. The Town Board shall take into account the existing land use in the
immediate vicinity of the property and the impact of the variance or waiver on the water supply,
agricultural lands,~ open and recreational space, rural character, natural resources, and transportation
infrastructure of the Town. The application must comply with all other applicable provisions of the
Southold Town Code.
b. Any request for a variance or waiver shall be filed with the Town Clerk and shall
include a fee of two hundred and fifty ($250.00) dollars for the processing of such application, along
with copies of such plat showing all required improvements in accordance with the procedures of
§A106-25,8 A106-27 and Articles III and IV of Chapter Al06 of the Southold Town Code.
c. All such applications shall, within five (5) days be referred to the Planning Board,
which shall have ~hirty (30) days following receipt to make a recommendation to approve or
6
disapprove a variance or waiver of this Local Law. The application and recommendation shall be
transmitted to the Town Board which may conduct a public_hearing and make a final decision on the
application, with or without conditions. Final approval is reserved to the absolute legislative discretion
of the Town Board
Section 7. SEVERABILITY
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 effect the validity of this law as a
whole or any part thereof other than the part so decided to be unconstitutional or invalid. Section 8. EFFECTIVE DATE
This Local Law shall take effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State as
provided by law.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: There are several other legal aspects of this but I think that this conveys
to you the sum and substance of the moratorium proposal that is before us tonight, i have before me
many communications to the Town regarding this. I just don't think that I should try to read them:all
to you. There are maybe dozens of letters, in support and asking for comments,-th.ey are all on file~ '
with the Town Clerks office. Anyone who wishes to see them, they are available to any interested
person, there are-just looking at it here there is a letter from a law office in Mattituck, another law
office, there are letters from many, many people. I just don't think that I need to go into them. There is
also documentation that this has been printed as a legal notice in our local newspapers and it has
appeared on the bulletin board here in Town Hall.
SUPERVISOR HORTON: At this point we will open the floor to any residents here who would like to
address the Town Board on this specific public hearing. Again I ask that when you do so, you step to
one of the podiums, state your name, place of residence, so we have you on record for the public
heating. As well, there are a number of people here, I ask that we limit our comments to five minutes
in regard to this public hearing in order to afford everybody a chance to speak that would like to.
DAVID EVANS: Thank-you, my name is David Evans, I live in Peconic and I am going to refer to
something that I know many people read on Sunday, it was the Long Island section of the Sunday
Times. We are at the eye of the storm, of course, because the lead article was on moratoriums. I will
be very brief because I was rather surprised last year when the crisis over the proposal of five acre
zoning. My naivete thought it was a good proposal but then a very imposing constituency in this
Town, the farmer said no this would be bad for us, so I thought again. I will quote from two paragraphs
only, to keep well within the five minutes. One reads as follows: "A planning and land use expert said
a moratorium is loan to literally stop development and may actually stir it on. Everything depends,
these experts say, on whether local officials use the time a moratorium gives them to enact the changes
in zoning and land use regulations." Therefore, I am assuming that you are far more aware of this than
I am, and it is within your purview. The other one is a quote from somebody called Robert Yarrow,
President of the Regional Plan Association in Manhattan, he said that, "Unless there is an integrated
process that begins with a moratorium and ends with substantive changes that actually it does some
damage because people seem to think that you changed the roles when you really haven't." So, I have
only been in this Town for 29 years, but in that time I have seen enormous degree of alteration. Not
everyone here is against development. You can't stop time and change implies alteration all the time.
But what does concern me are these, what are called major subdivisions, that suddenly come in and
you see 11 acres leveled and 22 houses go up and them almost at once you find your garden all eaten
7
up because the deer that formerly hid out in the 11 acres are now driven elsewhere. Thank-you very
much.
BOB WIEBOLT: Supervisor Horton, members of the Town Board, I am Bob Wiebolt, the Executive
Vice-President of the Long Island Builders Institute. As you can imagine we really love moratoriums.
We are headquartered in Islandia, New York. I represent a number of builders and suppliers that
operate in the Town. I woUld like to talk to you a little bit about the moratorium because I think that
we are very interested in questioning, I am not here to oppose your moratorium but to make a few
recommendations for change. Moratoriums are unnatural interruptions of the legitimate rights of all
property owners within: the Town of Southold to make application of development under current law
and to have those applications expeditiously processed. A moratorium would delay jobs for local
trades people; delay or void sales by current property owners and be a further form of economic harm
to local builders, suppliers and contractors depen.ding on them for business. For example, somebody
may have been in thc planni ng i?has.c,~g~gftthg, if not years on a process and doesn't quite have final
approval it wguld hold the..m up' unneceSSarily and .basically in a costly way. But we r%9ognize with a
community which: is exte/mively revising its planning and zoning to accomplish mul~{~le objectives
Which you are here cannot have development continue while it finalizes plans for a different scheme
altogether. A brief time-out may be: necessary so long as the moratorium is only as long in duration as
is necessary to conclude the planning effort and as long as the moratorium is no more extensive in
geography than to cover the ground that is going to be covered by the re-planning or re-zoning. In
Southold our legal analysis would indicate that this brief moratorium has been well thought out. On
the surface, the proposed statute is reasonable. These legal ~ssues though, are important to avoid
property owners taking claims that may be very important as we approach the eventuality of an
extension of a moratoriUm. In April, the United States Supreme Court ruled on a six to three decision
in the Tahoe-Sierra case that a mere enactment of a moratorium or a freeze on development is not
unconstitutional under the takings clause of the United States Fifth Amendment. However, the Court
also sent a clear signal that a particular moratorium could be unconstitutional and require the payment
of just compensation to a property owner, if the facts confirm the property owner's argument. What
are examples of moratoria that may hold up in court? What is the duration? As the Supreme Court
said in the Tahoe case, "any moratorium that is enacted for more than one year should be viewed with
skepticism." I am just putting that on record. Is the moratorium a stalling mechanism? To put it
another way, is a land use agency simply enacting a wave of rolling moratorium to avoid addressing
comphcated issues in the planning process? Is the moratorium proportional to the problems at issue?
Is the development freeze a blanket moratorium or is it narrowly tailored to address a specific, time-
sensitive concern? Is the property owner being single out? Does the moratorium have a disparate effect
on similarly situated property owners?
SUPERVISOR HORTON: Mr. Wiebolt, I don't want to rob you of your time, but, I just want you to
be conscious of the amount of people that we have that want to talk, and to keep it under five minutes.
MR. WlEBOLT: I'll keep under five no matter what. Exclusions.. A moratorium should have a
reasonable provision for hardship exemptions. Now your proposal could use some improvement here.
Excluded are subdivisions where aA of the land is to be gifted to the Town or a non-profit conservation
organization. One could be a little critical here and argue that a forced acquisition of the bulk of an
applicant's property is required to avoid a six month delay. Naming two specific private organizations
is bad form and should be broadened to say or similar organizations, such as Peconic Land Trust, it is
wrong in any private sector to name just one or two. Not including wetlands or coastal erosion hazards
in the area to be set aside is not reasonable. Under the Town Code right now, wetlands that have been
set aside for the code aren't considered in the filing of the subdivision map as open spaces. We meet
the needs, these are legitimate conservation areas. While you can take them out of the count that
requires 75% of the land ro be set aside, we think is not right. You have no reason to do that. Do you
not want to preserve wetlands? Do you not want to preserve coastal erosion areas? You want them to
be part of the count. So we would recommend that you alter that and allow those to be considered. In
the appeals process we are particularly troubled. Under New York law, it is important to have an
appeal for hardship, it avoids litigation, creates a lot of good in situations. The problem is the appeal
has to be rational. And here you have got a five day wait and then a 30 day possible wait with the
Planning Board and then it comes to you guys and you don't have any time period and I think, you
could let the six months go in which case the whole hardship exemption is in essence voided. So what
we would recommend is that you look at your action in the moratorium exemption .as administrative
duty rather than legislative and establish in the law a certain time period within wl~ic'l~ you will act.. If
the Planning Board comes back within 30 da~/s the Town agrees to act on it.or hbld a pul31ic hearing
and then act within 60, so at least there is a presumption that if somebody comes in next month and
says that this is creating a hardship we don't have to wait six months. The moratium goes on anyway.
We would like to be involved in the process, and participate.in solving the problems, we have some
ideas that we think are sensitive to the local community, addressing local affordable housing and
agricultural preservation. I hope you complete your planning process towards the moratorium as soon
as possible.
SUPERVISOR HORTON: Does anyone else wish to address the Town Board on this public heating?
CARL DELACARESA: Carl Delacaresa, Southold I own and operate Carl's Custom Painting .... In
rebuttal to this gentleman from Islandia. I have noticed a great increase in business, the local
tradesman, that is what I am. But I would forgo the money for the lifestyle. The lifestyle is more
important to me. My other question is what do you expect to achieve on this moratorium?
SUPERVISOR HORTON: Are you asking the Town Board a question? I can certainly address that in
a few ways, but I don't want to make this a go back and forth between the Town Board and the public.
But to answer you briefly, much of the discussion has been based around major discrepancies or what
have been referred to as botches or band-aids on the subdivision code. I know that there are a lot of
discussions on the table about various planning tools, uses of various aspects of zoning, we have a
recommendation from the Blue Ribbon Commission which speaks an awful lot of the rural sensitive
district, the implementation thereof, and there is going to be an awful lot of discussion, debate and
work that goes into utilizing all of the various aspects of planning that the Town Board has available,
that the government has available to us. To the plans for the preservation of Southold Town, so we are
going to take this time, if this goes through, this time would be utilized to look at all of the various
planning tools available to the Town and take a lot of different input from various Board members and
take action over the course of that time.
CARL DELACARESA: I just have one other small question.
subdivision? What's the difference?
What is this, a minor or major
9
SUPERVISOR HORTON: The difference between a minor and a major subdivision- a minor
subdivision, set down by New York State two to four houses and a major subdivision is anything over
four houses, It is actually a legal definition.
MARIE DOMINICI: My name is Marie Domenici and I am from Mattituck. I am talking to you with
my thOUghts on paper because I don't consider myself a public speaker. So, if at some point if I fall
off, come and reel me back. My husband and I have lived on Long Island for over 30 years and we
g Island to find that ever elusive "oasis" the best place to live, work and
ave left Long Island to retire and find that perfect place to live out their retirement.
My husband and I have found the perfect place and it is Long Island, specifically in this town. Over
Long Island grow, new homes, new schools, new communities, new roads, new
malls new taxes. With all this newness, comes new problems. What starts out to be living in the
"burbs" sUburban sprawl. Strip mall, mega malls, fast food restaurants, over-crowding,
· With the creation of new developments, come new homes, new ~aeighbors
lawns. If given the choice would you trade your he .alth ,for. a .great looking
lawr when you have your subdivisions everyone comes in~,gh, ql ,they ~ant to startv
planting tho~e nice .new lawns. Which I don't oppose but I get concerned a~'{~t::ith, e environmental
a~pccl.~ inx olx cd. In the long term, to continue to expand Southold would pose a health risk to all of us
who live here. Long Island is only 120 miles long and 20 miles wide at its widest point and currently
of the several hundred wells tested both in Nassau and Suffolk, the findings are astounding as to how
many wells are polluted. Whether one has city water or well-water we are all still at risk for drinking
contaminated water. After all, the source of our water supply has the same source of origin. Pollution
knows no boundaries, so when:you pollute any part of Long Island you pollute all of Long Island. Let
me share some statistics with you. Suffolk and Nassau counties are respectively the second and third
highest counties in the state for the amount of pesticides reported by gallons and the third and fourth
highest for those pesticides reported by pounds. Suffolk County reports the most pesticides in the state
sold to farmers topping all other counties, including the heavily agricultural upstate communities.
Long Island accounts for approximately one-fifth of all the pesticides reported in the state in 1998.
The regions highest pesticide use is particularly outsized when compared to its physical size. Long
Island accounts for only 2.5% of the state's total geographic area. And these are frightening statistics.
Currently there are concerns about having enough clean water for the existing communities. The
Suffolk County Water Authority has put a moratorium on converting private wells to city water. The
fear is that Suffolk County Water Authority will not be able to serve their current customer base. If we
do not consider limiting the expansion of the North Fork, the current pollution problems such as well
water contaminations due to runoff and pesticide usage will add to the contamination of our drinking
water. Let us first clean up our existing problems before we consider adding to our problems by
building new communities. When we have polluted the aquifer system here, where do we go to find
clean drinking water? Poland Springs is not the answer and no amount of money can reverse the
adverse affects of pollution. Living on the North Fork is certainly not for everyone. The North Fork is
quaint, quiet and tranquil and when we start to exploit this quality of life, it no longer holds true for
quaint, quiet and tranquil. Expansion starts to over commercialization of communities that once co-
existed with nature. It means expanding roadways that were once solely traveled by farm equipment
and wildlife, which is natural to this area. Let's not lose sight of why we all live here. The weekend
traffic is just a sneak preview of the problems that will plague Southold if we continue to build with no
thought to long-term effects on expansion. Ever try entering or exiting Sound Avenue or Route 25? It
is a nightmare. The parade of cars along these corridors are unyielding. The expansion planning
10
should be carefully orchestrated and realize every new application for a building permit should be
viewed with the "big picture" impact. What are the long-term effects to our community with the
issuance of every new permit? I ask the Town of Southold to seriously consider minimizing any
further expansion of Southold as it will only have an adverse impact and ultimately condemn this town
to mirror the fates of other towns which started out as rural communities.. You know these towns to be
Levittown, Hicksville, Hauppauge and Port Jefferson, just to name a few. Do we want to lose our
community to over commercialization and give up the peaceful life we have all come to know. I ask
the Town of Southold to ask itself, do we have the resources to build new schools and roadways, to
expand Southold Town government and Town facilities, handle the ever growing environmental
impact and can the existing communities afford the tax burden to subsidize this kind of growth? I
believe that we all know the answers to these questions and in an effort to spur growth, Southold will
be a heavily, over-taxed community, thereby eliminating diverse community of all incomes, leaving
only the affluent to support the new tax impact necessary to sustain suburbar~ sprawl. Let's consider
the long-term effects of our actions before we consider expansion. Rcmcmbci~ ..sdmetimes bigger is not
always better. Thank-you. ;~&~ .: ~-,:,' ;'-'. '
SUPERVISOR-HORTON: Ma'am if you wouldn't mind leaving a copy of your comments with the
Town Clerk for the record and actually if any of you have written comments that you read from, I'll
ask that you leave them with the dais before you leave.
STEVEN BRANDT: My name is Steven Brandt and I have property in Hogs Neck, and I read this
several times and it comes across as ambiguous and I just need a clarification. Major and minor
subdivisions and it talks about property with dwellings on it. If I own a single building lot that was
part of the subdivision approved many years ago and it just wasn't built on what is the impact on me
today? (tape change) So that the fact that now I want to build a house on one of the lots that I own that
is okay?
SUPERVISOR HORTON: There will be a natural bureauocratic process to follow as you are probably
well aware and you will determine whether or not that is okay for yourself but you will not be affected
by this circumstance.
RICHARD ROSENBURG: My name is Richard Rosenburg, I am from Amityville, New York. We
have some maps that we would like to submit to the Board. We have in contract a piece of land that is
approximately 10 acres in an R-80 zone and we anticipate filing a subdivision application on that piece
of property. It is in the area of Southold known as the hamlet area and it is adjacent to a development
called High Point Meadows and I am sure that everybody is familiar with that development. Typically,
the lot size in that development is what I would say an average of ~,~ of an acre. This parcel that we
have, as I mentioned is an R-80 zone and we are going to submit an application to subdivide that into 4
lots. So our average lot size is going to be 2 ¥2 acres, we feel while we can understand the intent of the
moratorium, we feel in this particular instance it really isn't appropriate considering that we do
conform with existing zones and the character of the area is such that all adjoining properties are all ~A
lots. One other thing that we anticipate doing, when we do file the application we are going to provide
buffers on each of the lots about 75 feet to create kind of a private space and actually shield the
existing homeowners from the homes that are going to be built behind them. We feel in our particular
instance, while well intentioned, the moratorium is just not appropriate.
11
WILLIAM BAXTER: Would you tell us what the effective day of the moratorium would be.
SUPERVISOR HORTON: Actually, we would have to close the public hearing before we are able to
bring that to a vote but it is proposed for a six month period.
JUSTICE EVANS: When filed with the Secretary of State.
LAUREN GRANT: My name is Lauren Grant, I am a town resident living in New Suffolk. You,
Supervisor Horton, and you, members of the Town Board have been given enormous opportunity and
an enormous challenge in that you, as a Board have been given what may be the last chance to protect
the character of the Town of Southold. Some say that it is too late, that what has become so precious to
town reSidents is already in jeopardy. Having read many articles in magazines and newspapers over
the last several years pertaining to the discovery of the North Fork. One can hardly be surprised that
involved in this clis~.o~ery would want to be part of our treasure called the North Fork. One article in
particular conlc.q:'t~ ~.nind and it was published in New York magazine in 1980. The title ~o$:,this article
Was: :~he xii~.~'h ~l.,,,'l,-I'a,'adi.~c in Jeopardy" and'it spoke to the then challenge before tfi~epers of
Town, ~b protect our little bit of paradise from over-development. To keep our fields open, o5 farms in
production, our empty lots green with leaves, our roads un-congested, our drinking water safe, our
wildlife protected and our bays alive. The article ended with the question-will they be able to protect
this last haven on Long Island? We know the answer, some 25 or 30 years later-sadly, they couldn't or
wouldn't. I am one of the lucky ones that has been able to live on the North Fork, Cutchogue in
particular, as a very important part of my entire life. I have seen the changes and kept hoping people in
positions of authority would do something to stop the building of developments on lands that used to
lead to our shores, the design and construction of tremendous houses with no imagination, huge houses
that have changed the character of this area, the pollution of the bays so that at times, you don't even
want to go near the water. But no one has stepped upto the plate to protect us. Take a ride in Nassau
Point, it is hardly recognizable from :the place it was even 10 or 20 with houses literally looking like
castles. Drive to Horton's Lighthouse and look at one house in particular that is not in keeping with the
area, that totally changes the appeal of what used to be a place that you could literally feel the history
of the town and sea around you. Go to a marina and docks and see the huge boats, where there used to
be simple outboards and sailboats. Lie on the beaches and listen to the jetskis assault your ears, so
loud that you can no longer listen to the sounds of gentle waves or the gulls fishing for their meals.
Yes, our town has changed drastically. It's great for the businesses attracting tourist clientele, it is
great for the contractors and builders who are able to make healthy livings because of rapid growth, it
is great'for the vineyards replacing old potato fields. Yes, this is progress. However, it is not great for
the people living here now, watching changes that will inevitably bring, that are now bringing, more
pressure to hire more police, to expand the school system and to forever change what we hold dear to
our hearts, our ~town, our homes, our creeks, our bays, our parks, woods and beaches. It is up to you,
the Town Boaxd, to act now before even more people who really care about the Town are forced to
move away. Yes, a moratorium is a positive first step. But it will become a very unimportant step if
the time allotted is not used advantageously. During this time, you can do something through re-
writing town code. You can do something through re-zoning, code enforcement and perhaps through
measures such as land planning. Yes, this will mean that some people will not realize their dream of
having a huge home on the North Fork, it may mean that the golden goose may have come to the end
of its trail. In the long run, it may be worth it because our lands will be open and the character of
Southold Town will be preserved. You can and you must protect our town or you will be simply
12
another Town Board that looked the other way and we can all sit back and watch the Town of Southold
become another Huntington, East Hampton or Brookhaven. Please, Town Board, step up to the plate.
CATHERINE MESIANO: My name is Catherine Mesiano and I unfortunately don't live in Southold
Town as much as I would like to. I do come from a small town very much like yours so I can at least
empathize with the people who live here. I have a business, I am a real-estate consultant and I do
permit expediting and other types of work for people who own property in the Town of Southold. I am
here because I have a number of clients who are going to be impacted by this moratorium that will be
put into effect. I am presently working on at least 12 of the subdivision applications that are before the
Town of Southold. Some of them have been before the Planning Board since sometime in the 80's.
Others have been being worked on for at least five years. Some of these plans are this close to
completion. Extreme effort has been put in, both on the part of your Planning Department, your
personnel and my clients. Their dollars, their expenditures that they had to make on behalf of the
requirements imposed by the Town and it would seem a tremendous waste of resources both on the
part of the Town and the part of the client to get this close and then say to someone, you have six. more-
months to wait. In particular, I have a letter which I wrote to the Board that OUtlines the parficularsi'~[i .....
I will be brief, il just want to make my point. I have several projects that are set for final hearings on
August 12, and it would be close to criminal if these people were told that I don't think that there are
going to be heard at this point because there is a moratorium that is going to effect. In one instance,
we have a 30 acre parcel that is proposed to be subdivided into four (4) 71/2 acre lots it is R-80 zoned,
I don't think that it gets any better than that. I think that that achieves the goal that is desired in the
town to minimize growth, minimize development and density. This project has been reviewed, re-
reviewed and gone over ad nauseum. You just don't get any better than that. Under the present
zoning, there could be 14 houses proposed on this site. The developers are seeking only four, 7 acre
parcels and the interest in these parcels have been from people requesting small agricultural sites. I
think that this is the type of development that the Town is trying to encourage. A moratorium would
do nothing but thwart this development, possibly send it back to square one and then before you would
see a potential of subdivision that would be at 100% density. The costs associated with the
moratorium are just hiding the prices, as well as the economy and the supply and demand pressures.
The additional costs are just driving these prices up over the top. One of the people who spoke before
me talked about: the traffic that is a problem out here. Every thing that you pick up and read about the
traffic on the North Fork and I think that one thing that is important to remember, the extra traffic is
associated with your increased density of this over-grown population. But this is a very well-known
fact that this area is a hot tourism area and much of the traffic that you experience is a result of that
tourism not just your increased density. I am familiar with this area, I have worked in this area almost
exclusively since 1983, I have been in business myself working about 90% of my business is in
Southold Town since 1993, so I am very familiar with the cultures and the customs and the
expectations in this community. Another point that I would like to make, and I have to say that I agree
with Mr. Weibolt tremendously, so I won't reiterate anything that he has said, I will give you a minute
of my time. One of the things that I think is important to keep in perspective is the issue of people's
property rights. I find it most offensive to be told by an employee of this Town when discussing these
issues and the issues of property rights are brought up to be told, I don't care about property rights. I
think that is a thing that anyone who is charged with representing this Town or any other, should be
most cognizant of is a person's property rights. That I think underlies it all.
SUPERVISOR HORTON: Excuse me, this is not a time for rebuttal.
13
CATHERINE MESIANO: I am trying to address the Board and the Board may address me, I think
that is how the rules are?
SUPERVISOR HORTON: I would like you to call my office tomorrow to discuss that.
CATHERINE MESIANO: I would be more than happy to. Another point that I would like to bring up
as well, is that every time you pick up an article about the North Fork, you read about the lack of
affordable housing. Your affordable housing is not going to be addressed by adding more cost onto the
property. People that buy properties, developers that undertake projects, they factor in their carrying
costs. And some people on a tight shoestring, if a developer is going to bring in an affordable housing
at under $175,000, that clock is ticking, that interest payment is ticking for another 6 months may very
well push the cost up high enough that ygu.cannot bring those projects in at those rates. I am presently
involved .with two projects before this,.~o,~..[~t that ar~ proposed for a small affordable housing project.
small~i~rojects, the benefit to the commumty would be tremendous.
They are quite far apart, they ~e ' ~:' -5 .",. · -
One has a significant amount of County b~cking;' County funding, the projects would be given to lhe
Town of Sou~h°ld. I think that the Town stands to lose unleSs the Town stands back and looks at each
individual apphcation that is out there and assesses the impact of a moratorium arid the impact to the
Town as a result of that moratorium impact on the individual project. And I have a letter that I have
given to Mrs. NeVille with copies for the Board. And I will be glad to call your office.
SUPERVISOR HORTON: And I would like to say that for myself and this entire Board, I do not
condone any public servant while on office hours injecting their personal opinion outside the Town
Code or their politics, so please call and I will discuss that with you.
CATHERINE MESIANO: I appreciate you saying that because I don't think that a public servant
should be using their office as an extension of their personal agenda. I think that ...
SUPERVISOR HORTON: I would like to discuss that with you tomorrow. Thank-you.
HOWARD WEXLER, Cutchogue: I actually hadn't planned on speaking tonight but listening to the
speakers brought up something that I think should be brought out. At this time, I happen to be in the
real estate business as a real estate agent. I recently watched the prices of the homes in our area go
through the roof and it is getting to the point now, and I have several examples where our local
children and our young adults who have lived here, they were born and raised here, can no longer
afford a home here. I know that this has been beaten to death but I would just like you to take into
consideration in planning the moratorium to somehow exempt areas around the hamlet that can be built
with homes that our own children and our grandchildren in the future, young people and the trades
people in our area can afford. Because most of the houses now start at $275,000 and go to $450,000
and these kids just can't get 20% or 10% and they can't afford $2,000 or $3,000 a month mortgages. It
just doesn't work for them anymore. I would like to see you do something to make land available in
the hamlet area where affordable housing can be built.
JOYCE RUOCCO, Bayside: Good Evening, my name is Joyce Ruocco and I come from Bayside. I
am one of the part owners in 30 acres near August Acres. I wanted to talk a little bit about our
experience in trying to get a minor subdivision through. We are four families that weren't able to
14
purchase the properties individually so we pooled our resources and we each ought to end up with one
seven acre lot per family. This includes myself, my three kids and my husband, he is a fireman for the
City of New York. My father and mother-in-law and our dream is [o come out here and build a
retirement home and have a small farm on seven acres and two local families that have grown up and
are still living in the Town of Southold. We started our minor subdivision of four lots on 31 acres in
December of 1996. Before we bought the property we made sure that the Greenport Village Water
Company, who at the time was in control of the water would provide us water and we had a letter of
water availability. The Town reviewed our application for six years. During that time the Suffolk
County Water Authority refused to honor the letter of availability imposing a water moratorium. They
finally approved our subdivision because we had seven acre lots surrounded by one and two acre
subdivisions. Despite the size of the lots the health department did not expedite our application and
every time the public water was delayed, the health department delayed our approval. Finally, when
we were ready to have the map approved, the new Planning Board staff reviewed our application as if
the six years had not meant anything. The property is a former farm field. My father-in-law had
planted more than half of this lot with grapes. He hand carries water to tho~.,~"}, ar!..ts.. Often bringing it
out daily in his van from Bayside. The Planning Board threatened not to ~l~!!~t-~0 subdivide that.-t~ax
been planned and proposed for six years, if we do not agree to plan natural buffers for the deer; The
property was a former potato field. So what is growing around the vegetation now is just weeds. But
every step along the way, we have agreed to do whatever is necessary so that everybody could live out
their dreams. My in-laws hope to live here. We are finally scheduled for a public heating in August
and hope to expect approval. The last straw, of course, is this moratorium on minor subdivisions. The
proposed lot exceeds the Town Board minimum five-acre yield requirement. The Planning Board said
that this property would probably receive a waiver but there has been so many things said over six
years. Believe me, we haven't done this on our own. We have had an expeditor and a lawyer that has
helped us along the way and it still has taken us six years. We tried to do the right thing by requesting
only four seven-acre lots. We could have sold this property time and time again to developers. You
have no idea how many phone calls we have received over six years wanting this property from us.
But yet we kept holding on to the dream that this could be ours. The Town Boards moratorium on
minor subdivision that meets these goals in reducing density, we just don't see how this could possibly
apply to us. in fact, we already feel that we have been victims of a moratorium even though there
really hasn't been voted on. Thank-you.
FRANK CARLIN: Frank Carlin, Laurel. You hear so much and we heard this when we had the
McDonalds issue when we had the public hearing about Levittown, Southold wants to be like a
Levittown. I take my hat off to Mr. Levitt who had the thought of building a Levittown after the war
so that the veterans would have a place to live when they came home. So let's not knock Levittown.
He gave the veterans a place to live and to buy a home at a reasonable price. I hear that I lived out
there for 50 years and I don't believe that you need a moratorium and I will tell you why. If you had a
decent zoning code and if you had a master plan that is supposed to be up, you wouldn't need to be
here tonight. I seen Bill Moore one day walking down the Town Hall with a zoning manual under his
arm, he was tilted to one side. About 1000 pages. I remember back in 1959 we had one page in the
zoning code. There are a lot of loopholes in that zoning code, a lot of things that are not code in the
zoning code. Inaudible...you always find loopholes in it. And the master plan should be developed
more. And another thing, once you zone an area, don't change it. You zoned the area by the landfill a
few years ago residential, it should have been left that way. The Board before you tried to change
Route 48 rezoning. A lot of people came to the public hearing the same way. They didn't like it and I
15
don~t blame them. It was forgotten about. People come out here to buy a house at a specific or for a
specific zone and then the Board comes along, we want to rezone it. How would you like it? Once
you buy a house in a zone, that should be it. You don't come along and change things. Look at what
you are doing a lot of in this Town. You are causing a lot of commotions. You zone something, you
leave it. Now, maybe we want to live like the people in Amish country. Horses, buggies and read by
oil lantern and we don't want street lights because we can't stargaze. But you have to remember, the
young people have got to find a plaCe to build out here and make a liVing. Right now, the
LmC, ml~lovmcnt between Riverhead and Southold this year is 3.7%. It's up from 1% last year. So you
Imx,' I~ ml, c hold of some conSiderations, this moratorium-as far as I am concerned-we don't even
need it. Get your zoning code straightened out the way it should be, if you had a master plan developed
back in the 1990's, I don't know what happened to it, you wouldn't need this and don't change zoning
because somebody comes in and says, "I want to build something here" Or I want to do this or that.
Once you decide on a zone, whether it be residential or industrial, leave it. That is one of your
problems.
JOHN ROONEY: My name .is John Rooney, from Southold. I just w'~nted to note t~:/t~lbt of
seemingly seductive things have been said by several speakers most of wlaom are from outside of the
Town and whose professional interests is in developing land and/or expediting that development.
Things like affordability, the man from the builders institute spoke about why are wetlands kept from
the plan after all, the old one..inaudible..as far as affordability, there are many ways to deal with that
situation and I am glad that the Town Board is beginning to look into that. Accessory apartments,
again, it is a complicated issue but that is being looked into. As far as the comment about the wetlands
being excluded, my understanding is the reason that those are excluded is that they are already
protected and so what we don't want is for a builder to say, "Well, include that", because then that
reduces the net amount of land that he has to keep open. We are trying to go beyond with this
moratorium what the state very wisely already excludes from development. So in all understanding, I
think that I have that understood correctly, the reason that that is worked out is not that we don't care
that it be developed it is already protected and we want to move beyond it. So, please I simply say, I
have a letter that my wife and I to the newspapers, which I will submit, please realize where many of
these arguments against are coming from and the real interest of the people who present them. They
have a right to present them but I don't think that their interest are being covered in very seductive
other ways of phrasing. Thank-you very much.
SUPERVISOR HORTON: Would any body else care to address the Town Board in relation to this
public hearing?
JOSEPH LIZEWSKI: Joe Lizewski. I would like to address something that, I want to know what, it
had to do with the Planning Board handling site plans for accessory apartments and two-story houses.
So are we know going to go to site plans for those two items? We never had residential site plans
before. Is that the way, you said at the time, you addressed it as... the Planning Board now being
involved in accessory apartment.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: I don't think that the moratorium deals with that issue.
SUPERVISOR HORTON: Those are excluded from..
16
JOSEPH LIZEWSKI: I know, but it was said that the Planning Board would now be, it was excluded
but it was put in the Planning Board category as far as site plans went for accessory apartments.
SUPERVISOR HORTON: There are various aspects.
JOSEPH LIZEWSKI: It used to be the Building Department that did that. This is the first time that I
have heard of the site plan into the residential areas, what I am trying to verify here, Tom.
SUPERVISOR HORTON: Let me clear that up for you, Joe. There are various aspects of residential
site plans that do go before the Planning Board.
JOSEPH LIZEWSKI: There are?
SUPERVISOR HORTON: Absolutely.
COUNCILMAN'MOORE: Hamlet density project.
JOSEPH LIZEWSKI: It would be a project, we are not talking individual houses here. The lady tffat
stood up here and talked about her six years of turmoil in this Town. We probably could go on for, if
we had one of those stories every week, we probably would outlast most of you with the kinds of
stories that have gone on about the Planning process in Town. Maybe you will address some of that
from the other side as you try to address this moratorium issue and try to expedite and eliminate some
of the kinds of problems that these people have had. It is certainly beyond what normal people should
have to go through with government in an expedient process. So I think that the other side of the story
is that you look at the government side you have to eliminate the problems that these people have had.
I mean that, I am telling you that if we wanted to really look in to this I am sure that we could bring up
on a weekly basis one of these stories that is a newspaper article for you. Thank-you.
TOWN ATTORNEY YAKABOSKI: Joe, one clarification on the exclusions so that there is no
confusion, site plan applications for commercial uses are not covered by the moratorium, just so that
there is no confusion on that issue.
JOSEPH LIZEWSKI: It is the first time that I have heard of a site plan being involved in accessory
apartments, and it just was brief so I didn't understand exactly where it was coming from. It is the first
time that it was ever mentioned. With accessory apartments and two-story houses. So if it
is..inaudible_that you are talking about, I understand. If you are talking about individual building of an
individual two-story house having a site plan, that is something new that I don't believe that the town
has addressed before.
COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Joe, it is two family houses, not two-story houses.
JOSEPH LIZEWSKI: Okay, but that is still residential that was never part of (tape change)
SUPERVISOR HORTON: That will not be included. Accessory apartments will not be included in
the scope of this proposal.
17
VINCENT ORLANDO: Vincent Orlando, Southold. My biggest fear with this moratorium is that in
six months the Board wishes to extend this moratorium for another six months in regards ro not enough
time to evaluate the situatiOn. We all know that there is a problem out there with over population with
the building. I think that, at least I feel, that it is not a rocket science decision, you have an intelligent
Board here that I am addressing, you know that you can increase the zoning you reduce the housing so,
that is not my fear. My fear is that you will extend this for another six months, or is this moratorium
not extendable?
SUPERVISOR HORTON: To answer your question, this Board hasn't disc. ussed yet whether or not it
would extend a moratorium that has not yet been adopted. To answer the second part of your question,
no this is not a non-extendable moratorium proposal, it is not part of the language of the proposal
however we haven't adopted a moratorium and we haven't discussed whether or not it would be, if
there are any plans to extend. The purview of the Board is that w~ k.~e .a large workload, the Planning
Board has a large workload and there are an awful lot of consi~tiorfs to be taken in regards to that
workload, this-,l~oard sPecifically looked at six months as the ti,~l~ranie tO take action to get it done.
VINCENT ORLANDO: So there is a potential for an extension, you are saying.
SUPERVISOR HORTON: Yes, there is a potential. And there is also a potential to have it end before
the six-month time span.
DAVE ALTMAN: Good evening, Supervisor and members of the Town Board, I am Dave Altman
from Garden City and I came out here tonight because I have a client at this point in time who is in
contract to buy a piece of property, right here in the Town in a hamlet density district. A number of
people have mentioned what if anything this moratorium may or may not do in relation to development
~n the hamlet density district. I heard Mr. Wickham read a number of exceptions in conjunction, the
preponderance of which seems to focus on subdivision development and the ramifications of
subdivision development. It seems to me and I am at somewhat of a disadvantage having not seen a
working draft or a proposed draft of the moratorium and the language incorporated therein. The
intention of the moratorium appears to be for the most part to preserve open space within this town.
Agricultural districts, condition to which the Town Attorney just previously mentioned there is an
exemption at least at least at the site plan approval for commercial development, we would ask that this
Board consider in conjunction with the exemptions which may be provided under the moratorium
particularly for commercial development where there is actually permitted residential development
which stay within the hamlet business district, such as what my client proposes that that also be given
due consideration as an exemption based upon this town has already approved a concentrated density
within that district. Thank-you.
JOAN EGAN: The one thing that I haven't heard that is so important, two things, one is that
chemicals...
SUPERVISOR HORTON: I ask that in the audience, while we have members addressing the Board,
that they be respectful of them while they address the Town Board. Thank you.
JOAN EGAN: We have the highest rate of breast cancer in New York State, on Long Island. That is
an extremely important factor. I had a malignant tumor removed. I had the very best of breast care in
18
Columbia Presbyterian in 1997. He told me that breast cancer is not caused by cigarette smoking. I
explained to him what we call the brown fide out here which is basically nothing more than a runoff
from a cesspool. I think that it is very important that the moratorium be done, maybe for more than six
months, I have another factor that I haven't heard anyone address in regard to the moratorium, that
Long Island is sinking at an inch and a quarter per year, with all this concrete, and all these trucks, and
all this traffic, we are sinking faster than ever. So all of you go along in your dream world of
moratorium, cease and desist. Now, the more things change, the more they remain the same. So
maybe God in his infinite way will take care of this because the economy is shot, everything is shot
and you guys up there on the Board, do you know what most people think about you? Except for you,
Josh and Ms. Neville, it is a country club up here and if you've got enough money, you can do
anything. Mr. Yakaboski, you will answer the little note that I sent you, won't you?
SUPERVISOR HORTON: Would anybody else care to address the Town Board?
AL AMA-T(3: Mr. Supervisor and members of the Board, A1 Amato, Gard~SCi,¢Y~.i;~/~ c-~fr~nily'in
contract for ~ piece of property that's zoned hamlet business located in the ha~titii~t ~at we are
seeking to develop pursuant to the code and a special permitted site plan. The consideration is
develop multi-unit dwellings, that according to the Town Code and according to the density. I would
also like to request..inaudible..to a proposed blanket moratorium. Having done a good deal of land
use..inaudible...I understand that moratoriums can exist for quite some time, six months, twelve
months and so on. It could be quite some time before certain new laws are enacted, the message that
could be sent out is that, don't go the extra step then. As of right development here would be
commercial development that is not what the contract vendor or the contract vendee is seeking,
however if the property or properties that are zoned hamlet business are put up ~n a state of confusion
as to not knowing what direction they will be going in. So not knowing what permitted density then
alternatives will have to be explored so we respectfully request that...inaudible. Thank-you.
HOWARD MEINEKE: Howard Meineke, Cutchogue. I would just say a couple of things. One, there
has been a lot of pleading and it is understandable for exemptions to slide in under the moratorium and
obviously we have to be very careful because the moratorium is to improve our planning and see how
the Town is supposed to look years downstream and every time we have let someone in under the bar
we have done something that may or may not fit the plan so I think that you have to use a jaundiced
eye when you look at those things. The other thing is that I thought that Mr. Orlando was worrying
about the moratorium and the effectiveness and the duration and Mr. Wiebolt was worrying that we
structured it so that it held water and was not over-turnable. I think that is very important and I would
like to see the Town sooner rather than later, enunciate a pretty clear goal for the moratorium and I
thought the bits and pieces of improving subdivision regulations and etc. was not the meat and potatoes
of non-over turnable moratorium, I am not an attorney but I worry that maybe it should be more
straight forward as to preserve Southold rural character as the charge to the Blue Ribbon Committee
using the results from the Blue Ribbon Committee and attendant facts that were uncovered by the Blue
Ribbon Committee to achieve those desired goals that were enunciated through the Blue Ribbon
Committee which would put it a little more in the form of a master plan and that, what those items
came from various planning documents down the road. Hopefully, I am talking to you about
something that you have already had in your mind but you, Josh, did say what you thought it would
cover and I think that that was a grossly incomplete list of what it would cover and it was not stated in
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a manner that would make it airtight and I think that stating it in a manner that would make it airtight
and then doing it in an airtight manner ~s exceedingly important. Thank-you.
SUPERVISOR HORTON: Howard, actually before you leave you should pick up a copy of the legal
notice because the purpose does clearly indicate that. I didn't want to get into a cross talk between
myself and the Public in regard to specifics of it and it is very well defined in the legal notices.
Actually, you echoed my comments at the very onset of the first meeting in regard to the use of
moratoria, you aCtually clearly stated my very own Concerns. So thank-you for your support. Would
anybOdy el~e :care tc~ a~tdress t~e Town Board?
SYDNEY ABBOTT: Sydney Abbott, Southold. I did not come here tonight to speak but I want to go
baCk to' r second speaker who talked about the New York Times article in the Long Island
section this las And to simply, maybe this supports what Howard and Josh are saying, to
reiterate that moratorium full of loopholes is probably worse than no 'moratorium at all
because it will simply fool a lot of people and they are just going to be mad later, ~e all know that,
'everybody liangs arotmd. So, it has got to'be really good and I agree that it should ~ave-some stated
over arching imcm. 'l h,m is all that I wanted to say. Thank-you.
JIM DINIZIO: Jim Dinizio, Sound Road, Greenport. I have a concern about the legal notice, we can
cover that later on in the meeting but it seems to me that if you are going to have a moratorium you
have to be able to identify the area in which you are going to look at. I am assuming that your legal
notice states that specifically. If it doesn't, then why are you having a moratorium? If you are going to
announce to the world, that hey, we are going to look at something, we are going to stop everything
and look at something why aren't you telling the people what you are looking at? I am concerned
about that. There Should be identical, identifiable lots, I would think, that you are specifically targeting
with this moratorium. In my opinion, these people, and you should take the time to notify these people
personally that they are going to be subject to discussion within the next six months and they should
pay attention to this discussion. Hopefully, they are going to arrive at the meeting and have some input
on the future of their lots or lot. Whatever they happen to be. And another thing, the woman who
spoke about, she has four seven acre lots, I don't know if you appreciate exactly the situation that she
is in. Because she is complaining to you about a Board that she is depending on a decision for
something she has worked six years on. She is complaining about that Board. That to me is a fairly
grave act and could be devastating to her if comments that we heard from the other lady, if that is the
attitude that is coming from, wherever that is coming from, that must stop immediately. People should
not be intimidated to not come before this Board and express any feeling at all. If we heard that
tonight, then we have to consider that. And we also have to consider that we have a moratorium that
six months, six years is entirely too long for any application to be before any Board in this Town, you
have to put a limit on that also. I recognize that the code is probably confusing to some but it is
confusing becaUse like Mr. Carlin said, you keep changing it. The real planners of this Town are the
people who purchase that land rely on what is written in that code. If they have to plan out six years
ahead, and they can't rely on the wording of the code when they purchase the piece of property, there
are some real hardships going on. Recognize that, the reason why you have most people that are out-
of-towners, that are developers, because most of your people in this Town don't have jobs that can
possibly allow them to afford to do what these gentlemen want to do. I have two kids, they will not be
able to live in this Town, I could buy them a house, I could let them live in the house but there is no
way that they could get a job to support that house. Six, seven thousand dollars in taxes, just taxes
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alone, we are not talking about mortgages or food. So recognize, that when people speak to you and
when they say something, that it is their lives that they are talking about and these people have made
plans based on what your predecessors have written in 1989 and you have current ongoing problems
with people coming to you saying that we didn't know. Don't make that same mistake. Let the people
know what you are considering, let these people who have read your laws and purchased property and
depend on those laws, let them know what you are considering. Thank-you very much.
BECKY WEISSMAN: Hi, I am Becky Weissman, Associate Director of Long Island Farm Bureau.
As a representative of the farmers out here on the North Fork and on Long Island in general. We have
long been advocates for private property rights and tonight, just for the record, I would like to make the
comment that I am in support for what Mr. Meineke a few minutes ago in regard to just making sure
that this moratorium gives people the time and consider the fact that it comes from a group of
individuals who absolutely stand firm on private property rights. But this moratorium period should
really allow a clear cut defined account of what it is that you are going to be looking at as a Board, and
what you are going to be working on. We look forward to seeing that. Tha~nk-you.
PETER BELL, Southold: We have heard a lot about private property rights. But private property
rights exist because we all respect the law. One man mentioned Levittown. Well, Mr. Levitt wrote into
to his covenants that Jews and Blacks were forbidden from buying property. And those same Jews and
Blacks were veterans also. So private property has a part in our lives and I think that we should all
respect private property. The problem is when the builders and developers get going, they don't
respect the Town's property. They don't respect the wetlands, particularly which I am interested in,
they seek all kinds of variances and setbacks so they can build a house on a swamp that is 20-30%
underwater. There only reason for existence is to make money. I retired from the Brooklyn waterfront
where I worked as a long shoreman for 36 years, I cruised on my boat for 15 years up to this area and
we loved it, my wife and I. We spent 2 weeks in Mattituck Harbor looking around for places that we
wanted to retire and we found Cutchogue. Now, we see, right across the street from us, they are
attempting to put a house and it was three lots, 20-30% of the lots were underwater, they attempted to
put a house on it. Originally, they wanted to build three houses on the three lots, the Town Trustees
agreed with our position that the house could not be built on two lots.
SUPERVISOR HORTON: Al, I just ask that you keep your comments in regard to the moratorium,
which includes major and minor subdivisions.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Well, you have some exclusions and that was what I wanted to ask
about. The wetlands are excluded. What I am asking about is, the developer got the okay from the
Board of Trustees to finally build a house and the variances where that one of his cesspools could be
100' jurisdiction of the Trustees and the other variance was that he could get into the wetlands by 30'. I
am wondering if the Town is going to consider these applications in the moratorium?
SUPERVISOR HORTON: Would anybody else care to address the Town Board?
I.ETTY PERINO: My husband and I have a family subdivision just like the woman in the back in
Mattituck. We are scheduled for our final approval on August 12. I would like to request that the
Board possibly consider that it not be resolved until after we have our final approval, I don't know
what the date is that you have scheduled.
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COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: There was one letter that I think that the Board ought to here. It just
came in today, there is quite a number of letters here that repeat much of what I have heard here
tonight and they are all very interesting I don't think that we need to take that much time. This is a
letter to the Town Board. "I would like to make the following two comments on the proposed
moratorium. One, the exemptions should include minor subdivisions which have been pending for an
extended period. Perhaps you could specify an application date or a period of at least a year at which
have received sketch plan approval have received or spend considerable diligency pursuing health
department approval and which do not result in a significant increase in density or diminishment of
open space or farmland." What they are saying is these should be considered as exemptions. "To hold
up such applications at this point does not serve the purpose of the moratorium but severely prejudices
owners who have been in process for some time and have encountered delays in through the Health
Department review, Engineering, survey or otherwise. The second point was, I strongly object to the
lack of any criteria for the Town Board on the granting of a waiver for the requirements of the
moratorium. This invites a~challenge of arbitrariness, which, if successful could subject the Town to
liability for damages for improperly dela34ng an application. The criteria should,~¢!ude the
recommendation of the Planning Board, the status of other pending approvals, the diligence of the
applicant and the length of time that the application had been pending and the impact on open space,
density and farmland." That is just one record that came in today that I thought the Board had ought to
know about as we consider this.
SUPERVISOR HORTON: Would any other member of the Board like to weigh in on this?
(There was no response.)
SUPERVISOR HORTON: If not, I will close this public hearing at 9:30 p.m.
SUPERVISOR HORTON: If you don't mind, we will continue on with this meeting with the public
portion. We are going to continue this regular Town Board meeting. At this point I will offer the floor
to anybody that would like to address the Town Board on Town related matters. Before most of you
clear out, the Town Board has just discussed this for a few moments, in light of the gravity of this issue
and taking into account so much of what we have heard this evening, the Board is going to discuss this
further and take it up in the meeting which will take place in two weeks. That is a consensus by the
Town Board.
Southold Town Clerk