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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLocal Law #8 2018 PH SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD PUBLIC HEARING July 3, 2018 7:32 PM Present: Supervisor Scott Russell Justice Louisa Evans Councilman William Ruland Councilwoman Jill Doherty ' Councilman James Dinizio, Jr. Councilman Bob Ghosio, Jr. Town Clerk Elizabeth Neville Town Attorney William Duffy This hearing was opened at 8:23 PM COUNCILMAN GHOSIO: NOTICE IS'HEREBY GIVEN there has been presented to the Town Board of the Town of Southold, Suffolk County,New York, on the 22nd day of May, 2018, a Local Law entitled "A Local Law in relation to Amendments to Chapter 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events" and NOTICE IS HEREBY 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 3rd day of July, 2018 at 7:32 p.m. at which time all interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard. The proposed Local Law entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Amendments to Chapter 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events" reads as follows: LOCAL LAW NO. 2018 A Local Law entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Amendments to Chapter 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events". BE IT ENACTED by the Town Board of the Town of Southold as follows: Chapter 205. Public Entertainment and Special Events Article I. General Provisions 205-1. Purpose. It is the intent of this chapter to establish procedures and requirements for conducting special Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 2 events in the Town of Southold to preserve the public peace, good order and the integrity of the use regulations established under the Zoning Code, to properly provide for the health, safety and welfare of the general public and to provide penalties for violations of the provisions herein. § 205-2. Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated: PARKING CAPACITY - For the purposes of this chapter, parking capacity shall be the number of cars, limousines or buses permitted on the site according to a site plan approved by the Town of Southold Planning Board. SPECIAL EVENT -.Any temporary gathering, demonstration, performance, exhibition, amusement or activity that is not currently a permitted use of the property in the applicable zoning district or which requires a parking area to accommodate all vehicles transporting attendees to the event that is larger than the existing parking capacity of the site that is conducted or sponsored by a person, organization, entity or association, including, but not limited to, carnivals, circuses, fairs, bazaars, outdoor shows and concerts, parades, walks, runs, marathons, bicycle races or motorcycle rallies, which may involve one or more of the following: A. The closing of a public street. B. The use, blocking or restriction of Town property, roads or rights-of-way; C. The use of amplified sound exceeding the standards set forth in Chapter 180 of the Town Code. D. The sale of merchandise that is not ordinarily sold in the normal course of the applicant's business. E. The sale or service of food to the public with the exception of the following: (1) On land used in agricultural production, the sale or service of food products composed primarily of ingredients produced on site; or (2) On land used in agricultural production that maintains a winery or farm winery license issued by the New York State Liquor Authority, the sale or service of food items which customarily complement wine tastings and that are ordinarily consumed while standing or walking and without the need for utensils. F. The substantial increase or disruption of the normal flow of traffic on any street or highway. G. The placement of portable toilets. H. The placement of temporary no-parking or directional signs or banners. I. The use of any Town services that would not be necessary in the absence of such an event. SPECIAL EVENT COMMITTEE The Special Even Committee, also referred to in his chapter as the "Committee" shall review applications forwarded to it by the Town Clerk's Office. The Committee shall make determinations as to the completeness of the application request further documentation as it deems necessary as set forth in this Chapter, and make recommendations to the Town Board as to whether the application should be granted or denied. The Committee shall consist of: the Government Liaison Officer. who shall act as the Chairperson; the Chairperson of the Zoning Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 3 Board of Appeals or his or her designee; the Planning Director or his or her designee; the Chief of Police, or his or her designee, and; the Chief Building Inspector, or his or her designee. The Town Attorney shall act as counsel to the Committee. The Town Board shall appoint a secretary to assist the Committee in the processing of applications. § 205-3. Permit required. A. To preserve public peace, good order and the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the Town of Southold, special events shall be prohibited in the Town of Southold unless a special event permit is obtained in accordance with the requirements set forth in this chapter and as follows: (1) All special events --private r o,.t„ and with an expeeted attendance „floss than 1,000 attendees shali obtain approval of the Gh,,;,•per-.,o of the '7.,, ing B Appeals ,�.nee wits, the terms sot forth i rtiele 11 of this ,.i.apto,.shall Vl t l�.J�lli U1J 111 Ul�l�7 require the issuance of a Special Event Permit by a resolution of the Town Board. (2) All special events on ei4y with an expeeted attendanee b 1,000 attend es V� JlVll U.,l events o T,, , p pert„ shall obtain the „ al „� the TwA% Board as set forth in Ai4iele M of this ehapteF. B. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to: (1) Any event held on property owned by any special district that is contained on site and has adequate parking, ingress, egress, traffic control and sanitary facilities to host such an event; (2) Any event held on property owned by a not-for profit for its own fundraising that is contained on site and has adequate parking, ingress, egress, traffic control and sanitary facilities to host such an event; (3) Occasional events on private residential properties hosted by the owner thereof to celebrate family events, holidays, charitable or other not-for-profit fundraisers; however, any use of residential property for profit, such as a venue for weddings or other events, is prohibited. Article II. Special Events Requirina Chairperson of ZoninLy Board of Appeals Approval Permit Application Requirements and Procedure 205-4. Application requirements. The following information and materials are to be submitted with an application for a special event permit. The Zoning B a r Appeals als offie pt aA single application maybe 111V L�Vlllll LVUlU V made for a recurring event or a series of similar events (not to exceed six in a three-month period) that are of like size and scope. A. A completed special event application form which includes the following information: (1) The name, address and telephone number(s) of the person(s) who will be organizing the event and who can be contacted prior to and during the event by Town officials. Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 4 (2) The address of the event location. (3) The proposed dates and hours of the special event, including setup and shutdown times. (4) The expected maximum number of persons intended to use the property at one time and collectively, including organizers, employees, vendors, exhibitors and spectators/participants. (5) Expected number of automobiles and other vehicles intended to use the property at one time and collectively. (6) The name, address and telephone number of the person(s) who will be engaged in the preparation and/or sale of food, alcohol, or beer and a copy of the State Liquor Authority license and County Department of Health Services permit number for the activity. (7) The name, address and cellular telephone number of any security company which will work on the premises, and a description of the duties to be performed. (8) The dimensions of any tents to be utilized for the event. All tents erected in connection with an event will require an application to, and the approval of, the Building Department. (9) Certification that the property where the event is to take place is not subject to any covenant or restriction limiting its use, or if the use is restricted by easement or otherwise, a copy of a survey or diagram depicting the easement area and any reserved area where development rights are intact. (10) The applicant must provide a certificate of general liability insurance naming the Town of Southold as an additional insured with limits of$1,000,000 per occurrence or such other limit as may be required by the Town Board for events where expected attendance exceeds 500 attendees. B. The appropriate An application fee. (1) The fees for Special Event permits shall be proscribed by a resolution of the Town Board it the folio ' - is for o e o �. F-or-events where the expeeted at4endaffee is less than 500 attendees! $150. (a)==For events where the expected attendanee is 500 to 1,000 a4tendees: . �—�pplieatiaiis that are submiaed less than 60 days the proposed event niay VV 1liJ VVL\.0 of JUbjeet to a late , C. A general description of the proposed event including: (1) The purpose of the event and description of the nature of the activities to be carried on and the admission fee to be charged, if any. (2) The names of groups, organizations, charities or individuals who shall benefit from the proceeds of the event. D. A parking/event plan showing: (1) The size of the property and its location in relation to abutting streets or highways. (2) The size and location of any existing building(s) or structure(s) that will be in operation during the course of the event and any proposed building, structure or signs to be erected temporarily for the event. (3) The location of the stage or tents, if any. (4) The designated areas of use for spectators, exhibitors, vendors, employees and organizers. Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 5 (5) The location of all exits. (6) The location of all fire extinguishers and other fire safety equipment. (7) The location of all temporary utilities to be installed for the event, if any. (8) The layout of any parking area for automobiles and other vehicles and the means of ingress and egress for such parking areas. The parking spaces must allow for 300 square feet per car. (9) A traffic control plan for vehicles entering and leaving the site for the proposed event. (10) A plan for the use of live outdoor music, loudspeakers and other sounds which will be used, if any, and the type and location of speakers and other audio equipment (11) A description of emergency access and facilities related to the event. (12) Provisions to dispose of any garbage,trash, rubbish or other refuse. (13) The location and a description of any additional lighting to be utilized in conjunction with the event. (14) The location of sanitary facilities on site. E. A description of any signage to be displayed adjacent to a Town, county or state road, including size, location and dates of display. F. A certificate of insurance not less than$2,000,000 naming the Town of Southold as an additional insured. G. A minimum cleanup deposit of$250. lH. The_Qtaifpefseli Town Board may require the applicant to send and provide certification that written notice was sent to every property owner abutting or adjacent to the property where the event is to be held, as shown on the current Town of Southold assessment roll, and directly opposite (by extension of the lot lines through a street or right-of-way) of the property that is the subject of the application. Said notice shall include the date, time and location of the proposed special event. GI. Notwithstanding the foregoing,the Chair-person of the Zoning Board of Appeals Town Board, upon request by an applicant, may waive in whole or in part any of the foregoing application requirements upon a finding that said requirements are not necessary for proper consideration of a permit application in accordance with the standards set forth in § 205-5E(1) through (15) or for the protection of health, safety and welfare. The Town Board's determination of any waiver request shall be in writing to the applicant and shall specify the reason for the grant or denial. If a waiver is granted, the Town Board may attach appropriate conditions to protect the public interest. § 205-5. Application review procedure and standards. A. All applications for a special event permit must be submitted at least 60 days prior to a proposed event to the Zoning Board of Appeal--s Town Clerk's Office. Any U„ on that is + p' + +be aeeepted and ^ ed. Upon receipt of an lUL 1J 11VL l+Vlll 1V Lli 113U 11VL application for a special event permit, the Town Clerk shall cause the application to be forwarded to the Special Event Committee. B. Upon receipt of an application,the Committee shall review the application and make a determination as to completeness. When the Chair-per-son of the Zoni g Board of Appeals Upon making a determination that the application is complete, dere ffli e-s s ' applieation is eemplete, the Chaifper-sen.Committee shall cause the application and Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 6 related documentation to be distributed to any Town, county or state agencies that may have jurisdiction over the event for their review and comment on any of the criteria set forth in § 205-5E of this article. Such referrals may include the Police Department, the Planning Department, the Building Department, the Office of the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Suffolk County Planning Commission, the Land Preservation Department, the Code Enforcement Department, the Fire Ixspeeter Marshal, the Assessors' Office and/or the Town Attorney. C. Upon receipt of comments, the t'll�li 1if the Zoning Be fd of Appeals rl,U11r11 �+1JV11 VZ11 Committee shall review the complete application and make a recommendation to the Town Board as whether to grant the application, den t�pplication, or grant the application with conditions. In considering whether to recommend approval or denial of the application, the Committee shall consider the criteria set forth in subsection"E" of this section. deteFmine whether-tor-eqaheto the proposed event application. D. 11 11V 1eY1J1 V11J Ul 1. 1l.Y.r U11L , oi:i+pon the submission of a revised „, the G11U11 r1eiJV11 of the Zoning Board of Appeals may deny or appr-ove the application w4h dons The Committee shall make a recommendation to the Town Board within 30 days of receipt of a complete application. E. Upon receipt of an application from the Special Events Committee, the Town Board shall review the application and make a determination whether to; grant the application as applied for, deny the application, or grant the application with conditions. In making its determination the Town Board shall consider the following: (1) The size and capacity of the site to accommodate the proposed event. (2) The facilities available. (3) The availability of highways and other means of transportation to and from the site. (4) The impact of the event on the safe and orderly movement of traffic within and contiguous to the event. (5) The need for the Town to police such event, and whether the number of police officers assigned to properly police such event will prevent the Town from providing adequate police protection to the remainder of the Town. (6) The impact of the event on fire and police protection and ambulance service to the areas contiguous to the event and to the Town in general. (7) The impact of the event on the movement of firefighting equipment or ambulance service to the Town or to areas contiguous to the event. (8) The impacts on adjacent property owners and the surrounding neighborhood. (9) Whether the owner, applicant or event sponsor has violated a previously issued special event permit. (10) Verification that there are no outstanding violations on the property at which the event will be held or any outstanding or unsatisfied conditions of a Town agency approval, including, but not limited to, those of the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Appeals. (11) Verification that the grant of the permit will not violate any existing covenants or easements on the property. (12) Whether a permit has been granted for a prior event that was the same or substantially similar in size and scope to the event applied for and/or resulted in the impacts defined in Subsection E(4), (5), (6), (7) and (8) above. Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 7 (13) Whether the frequency of prior or proposed special events on the site constitutes a change or intensification of the permitted use of the property necessitating a use variance or further site plan review. (14) If an applicant is requesting a special event permit that was held the previous year, the verification must be submitted from those charities listed on the previous application. (15) Any other matters that relate to the health, safety and welfare of the general public. F. A deposit shall be made in an amount to be determined prior to issuance of the permit based upon the estimated direct costs attributable to additional police and highway costs associated with the event. After the event,the deposit will be used to cover such costs, and any monies remaining will be returned to the applicant. G. Where the Town determines that there is no specific Town benefit from the event or that the event is conducted for profit, an additional deposit shall be made in an amount to be determined prior to issuance of the permit based upon the estimated direct costs attributable to additional police, highway and cleanup costs associated with the event. After the event, the deposit will be used to cover such costs, and any monies remaining will be returned to the applicant. If the costs incurred by the Town exceeds the amount deposited, the applicant shall be responsible for the additional costs incurred by the Town as a result of the Special Event. H. A special event permit is not transferable and shall expire at the close of the event(s) for which it is issued. I. The special event permit issued hereunder shall be displayed on the premises during the special event and shall be available for inspection by a police officer or other enforcement officer of the Town upon request. J. Applications for tent permits required for any event must be submitted directly to the Building Department. K. At the sole discretion of the Committee, applications that are submitted less than 60 days prior to the proposed event may be rejected or be considered subject to the applicant paying a late processing fee. § 205-6. Appeal from denial of a special event permit. An applicant who is denied a permit by the the Chair-pefsen of the Zening B,,afd of Appeals is Town Board may apply to the Town Board for reconsideration of the application by filing an appeal with the Town Clerk within 10 days of the date of the denial. A complete copy of the application submitted to the Offiee of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall accompany the request for reconsideration. The Town Board may, following a public hearing, affirm, amend or reverse the determination the Ghaifperson of the Zoning Beard of Appeals its prior decision subject to any conditions deemed appropriate under the circumstances. § 205 7. Events ,... on Town lands t .. iib 1,000 attendees, A. Any event held on pi!oper-ty wAffied, !eased or- eontr-elled by the Town oi- any event",here the expected attendanee exeeeds 1,000 people shall be subjeet to approval by r-esolution of city of the Towii Board following the submission of an applioati on to the Town n Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 8 TownTown -Bo r.l m nide-the following ite-;n addition to the ;+o,-in set f rt i � vv 11 LVLLIU fnay VV11J1UV1 L11V 1V11V VV 111�,Vr 205 SE nl,oy-&. (1) The Giza f t nr 1 +' + +l, L F 1 ++0,-,.7;., +1, event. �./ a..v Vl[�V V1 Li1V 111 V1111JVU 111 lV1LLll Vll LV L11V 11 U111V V1 Vl 11V V1J1V UILVl-SCCl e1P}ej-of affangem€nts izre to coi+roitraffie, par-king, noise, ribr�g (3) The 4equeney of events proposed or appt!eved for-the premises and whether-t frequeiiey fis so great that the events eenstitute a persistent usage of the propei4y „11111 LL L.L..e�..1L11 its ..............,, .,. ..1L11 L11LLL L,1 L1.L. JL.Il>.L.l. lllg L11L,a. 04 C--9�rets '+1 di bl' f the land ad f 1'ti involved. \ rVriTC1T'O'rCISRA��'�.J'iZ'D71�rIIl.. , r GTITCIC�ZTrP'CTrYG7T (5) Whether then applicant has b ted fn failure to l +1 +1, + f � / L.1>. LL1.1.11L..,L11L 11LLJ l.ccireoir'1'-iecccrtro cornln�-'wTcrrrrit. rcn-lrs-��r this ehapter-within the past th e . (6) Adhefenee to the ToNN% Board poliey of disee—a-m- events at Town beaekes parks from the Fr-ida bef .e the ob 1 r f T T 1 D +•1 Labor D w v iV Lii JV u11VV Vl 1v1V111 Vllul Lu}' until DU5 /SFA 9 eeveiiAs with erred a-+rtendanee of more than la,000 people are scheduled for-the same date and are within a half mile radius of each other-, the Town Board will detefmine if there are adequate r-eseur-ees for-the evenis. if there afe not sufficeieHt r-eS6ur-Ees to enstaz,publlie foal+1, d safety, the Teval Board "LJ shall deny one or-lv, o ,,,;is ;f+l, + the + +b ti + .l shall uvll� Vlly V1 111VaV 11 v11111 LJ 11 L11V 111111uVLJ Vl L11V events V11LJ Vu11I1V1.Z7li�Z1TC11jLtrGlf When de ei, ;n .w-hieh event to deny, the T. Bear-. shall consider-the folle (u) Whether-the event; o (hl Whether the site has be ubje ++ lati .+1 +h last t4ee years-. �.i/ Whether-u.vl Laly V1LV 11uJ VVVii JNVIVVL LV K vlVlllll Vll VY1L31111 L11V lU (e) T The date the pefmitc appheatio l was submitted. (dl If events oe ,-1 +1, 1 .l +l, Chair-per-sonf+1, Zonin �.-./ 11 ...v..11LL1 VvvL.11vu La1L.11..V1 vulvlluul �>.ul, ul>. Bo id of Appeals shall , sider what their-impact was on that area f+1, Town. (e) Whether-the event will a dona4ion ion 1 eal eharracs. R Fes-aiiy speeialevent that is to be held on land owned, !eased or-eontrelled by the To of Southold,then plication shall dude+1, f ll V1 VV ULllV lU, Ll1V t< (11 A completed 1 + l +' f 1,' 1, +n +1 folio �./ a a completed special V v V11L LL111111VLL Ll Vll 1V1111 VY 111�ir in � nil address and telephone number-(s) f'+1,(a) The1.LL111 V, mailing address, V 1,..1.,>,.1(„) ..11>, ..111 1.L. >.ibLLlllzulb L11e event and who ean be eontacted pr4of to nn.l during the event by Town „ff ei ls LV U11U UUlll l�', 111V . Tl,V prv1:1" (b\ ed event 1e n+• and+, f f w� 111 (e) The 1:e1 "Jed dates and hours of the pccn=1revent,-rrcn1 zdir�setup and shutdE):,A%times. mhos of pe ;n+ na d r +l, -+ + (...) l..v v.>11vvLVU lalu�>l.11 ulll li ulllVV1 V11J V1JV11J 111LV 1SUVUuse one time aria ll ti 1 1 d 1 ,a V..v Llllly u1.0 VViiVVLav Vl�, 111V11AUlllr, Vl bu111LV1 n�l.T1I 7 7 exhibitor-s and n +n+„rs/nn,-+;,,;nnn+n eA111 V1LV1J U11U (e) if there 1 ,7 d for- + ludi but �v/ 11 U1Vly uaV ull, J11v Vlul requirements 11VVUVU Ll1V event. , 1 ,+ limited+. „lino pr-esenee n,l 1 1VL 111111 LVU L , '-' . (2) An applieation fee in the sufn of$250 for- events wher-e the expeeted attefidallee does + enceeed 1,000 attendees. • (3) A eert�ieate a o� ss ee not letTI'niir-$� nnn -v�nnn g the Tooutlro-lrtt Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 9 as an additional insured-. (4) Azrtinimcrm minimum deposit of$25 . (5) Whefe the Town determines that there is no speeffie Town benefit ffera the event of that the event : ,,ducted for profit, additional deposit 1 ll be made in vl that �13v V.V1311U VVllu NVlV lI 1V l./rV 111, tnAll Uuu1L1 V11U1 uI��JV Jl�J13Ur amount t„ be deie ed prier to of the ;t based upon the t' + ,7 t1111V u111 1V VV 11V 1V1111111Vu illlVl 1V 1JJ UU11Vli Vl ll1V permit VUJIi 7 costs,with the even4. After the event, the deposit will be used to cover sueh and u1J uVu1v. v1111a1g y11l be returned to the—applicant. j Any additional information required by the Town Glerr G. For any special even4 where the expeeted attendanee exeeeds 000 > > 1 7 D and IE as well as the fell...,,;,,..• (1) An appliea4ion fee of$350. (2) A eertifieate of insuranee not less than $2,000,000 b the Town of Southe4d as an additional insure4. (3) The Town Beard ....., the appheant to send and provide eeftifieation tha4 sent to eveiry property ewiier abutting or adjaeefit to propepropert�uwhere the .,t is to be held h the + T f Southold rty J a13V event V111 1U 1V V V held, kJ Jl1V YY 11 Vll ull, full lull Town assessment r„11 „a di feetly opposite (b + of+1 lot lines tI L, .......,...,.,111..1111...11, u11u 1111 vv uy V1.lpVJ11V �V� extension Jlvll street-oil- of ttfe property that is-the Jsubject vrthe ctppricz'ltion. Said netiee shall inelude the-date, time-and-location of the proposedspecial event. D— Norwithstanding the foregoing, e TV n BVUlu, upeii request b an appmaylicant,, waive 111 ..11..1.. ... 111 pull u.11y V1 111.. 1V1VbV111g Ul.Jl,J 11VUL1V11 req-*----_ that said ateriot neeess 5,for proper-eonsidera4ion of a permit appheatiee or for the proteetion of health, safety and welfare. The Town Board r-eso1u4ien shall spe �. the e;fy the reason gift or denial. Tiwui.e. ii, gia rtcd, the Town Board may attaeh appropriate vv„u1+u;vis to protect the p bl; interests. Article IV III. Enforcement 205-8. Modification or rescission of permit. If, after a permit is issued, the Chairperson of the Z,,, ing Board of Appeals or the Town Board detennines that any of the representations and/or statements contained in the application are materially inaccurate or any of the conditions of the permit have not been complied with, the Town may serve the permittee's agent a notice of rescission of special permit specifying the manner in which the permittee has not complied with the terms of its permit and/or identifying the incorrect information supplied in the application. The Zoning Board of Appeals Chairperson or the Town Board may, for good cause, modify or rescind such permit, absolutely or upon conditions. 205-9. Penalties for offenses. A. It shall be unlawful for any owner, occupant or his/her agent or any other person to fail to comply with any provisions of this chapter or to fail in any manner to comply with a written notice, directive or order of the Director of Code Enforcement, Zoning Inspector or the Southold Police Department, or to conduct any special event in a manner not in compliance with a permit issued pursuant to this chapter and with the provisions of this Code. Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 10 B. For each offense against any of the provisions of this chapter or failure to comply with a written notice, directive or order of the Director of Code Enforcement, Zoning Inspector or the Southold Police Department within the time fixed for compliance therewith, the owner, occupant or his/her agent or any other person who commits, takes part or assists in the commission of any such offense or who shall fail to comply with a written order of the Director of Code Enforcement, Zoning Inspector or the Southold Police Department shall be subject to the following: (1) Failure to obtain a permit. Any person conducting a special event that is regulated under this chapter without first obtaining a permit according to the procedures outlined herein shall be subject to a fine of not less than $500 and not more than X580:80-$3,000.00. (2) Failure to comply with the terms of a permit. Any person failing to comply with the terms of a permit shall be subject to a fine of not less than $500 and not more than$1,500.00 $3,000.00. (3) For each subsequent offense of§ 205-913(1) or(2), violators shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and/or subject to a fine of not less than $500.00 $1,000.00 nor more than$5,000. C. No new special event permits will be issued to any property owner, occupant or his/her agent if such person is a named defendant in an outstanding or unresolved violation of this chapter. D. The Town may also maintain an action or proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with or to restrain by injunction the violation of this chapter. III. 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 affect the validity of this law as a whole or any part thereof other than the part so decided to be unconstitutional or invalid. IV. EFFECTIVE DATE This Local Law shall take effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State as provided by law. I do have a comment for inclusion from Paul Loeb, `I am inquiring and writing specifically regarding Brecknock Hall building at One Brecknock Road, Greenport that regularly uses the historic mansion as a catering hall. Their allowed usage of the historic building is for indoor weddings among other outdoor activities but almost every weekend in the summer and fall months they have a large tent and loud amplified music and speaking (announcing wedding party etc.) outside. They run their catering hall as a non-profit and I hope the following language from the new law does not allow them to forego the permit process. `Any event held on property owned by a not-for-profit for its own fundraising that is contained on site and has adequate parking, ingress, egress, traffic control and sanitary facilities to host such an event'. If applicable, can you please make my comments part of the record as I will not be able to attend tomorrow's meeting. Thank you." That's from Paul Loeb in Greenport. I do have here a signed and notarized affidavit that this hearing was posted on the town clerk's bulletin board and website and I also have an affidavit that this was published in the Suffolk Times. That's it. i Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page'11 SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Who would like to be the first to address the Town Board on this local law? Leslie? LESLIE WEISMAN: Good evening. I am Leslie Weisman, the chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals and I fully support this proposed legislation. For the past eight years, I have had the responsibility of taking in, with the ZBA office staff, evaluating and reviewing, approving or denying special event applications for of an expected attendance of just under 1,000 people. Which is the vast majority of the applications that come before this town. The Town Board has historically and continues to review all applications for 1,000 or more people in attendance and anything on municipal land or anything that requires a street closing. The current code was amended in its entirety in 2013, it was originally written in 1987 and in the past five years since its update, we all know that the number, variety and size of special events in this town has really mushroomed. And certainly it's time for the code to reflect the realities of today. Those necessary code changes are going to be done by our legislators who have the authority to do so, our elected town board officials. In my opinion, there is no better way to understand what needs to be fixed and what's working than by dealing with on a regular basis the current applications that are coming in to the town to see what is actually involved. All that this proposed code change is proposing to do is to take the decision out of my hands and to put it in the hands of the Town Board where most municipalities have the decision making body. No definitions or fees are being changed at this time, the review of applications will be much the same. Most people don't know that when an application comes into my office, what happens is that the staff scans it once it is deemed to be complete, we look at it and make sure that everything is in, it then goes out to a whole series of other agencies for their comments and their review and those people include the Chief of Police, the Planning Director, Chief Building Inspector, the Town Attorney, the Assessors, the Land Preservation Coordinator and Suffolk County Planning. This is to determine whether the development rights have been stripped or intact. Once those comments are received, I look at everything, I read those comments and then I make a decision to approve, approve with conditions or deny which can be appealed to the Town Board currently. What this proposed code change involves is the creation of a special events committee which is exactly the same people, which will provide exactly the same level of review, that committee will simply screen the applications, make sure they are complete, provide the same comments that they have been providing all along and then forward that information when ready to the Town Board with a recommendation that the Board may accept or not accept. I just simply want to say that I think that this is something that we can all agree on. This code needs to be updated. I don't think anyone in this room disagrees with that. what I think is important to understand is that this is the first and the right step in that direction, for those reasons, I fully support it and I urge the Town Board to approve the proposed change. One thing that I would like to point out is there is a typo in the, I've tried to correct it about 20 times, if you go to 205-6, that's because it was cut and pasted. There were a lot of things that were deleted because it was repetitive. It looks more complicated than what it actually is but the last line from the bottom of that paragraph, it says the Town Board following"a public hearing may affirm, reverse, amend the determination of its prior decision. Well, the determination of was the chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals which I hope will no longer be relevant; We simply need to delete the determination and go on to its prior decision. I just wanted to let you know that. Thank you. Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 12 SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Thank you, Leslie. Who would like to address the Town Board on this local law? ALI SHAPER: Good evening, Ali Shaper, Cutchogue, member of the wine industry. I hope you are all well tonight. There are a few items that are ambiguous in the proposed code, mostly relating to costs and as a business owner, well, first of all I think just generally as citizens, we need to know what the expectations of our costs are going to be in relation to deposits, cleanup or even application fees, so far this code really doesn't indicate what those are. Most of us wouldn't buy an appliance or a car or any major purchase without knowing what the cost was first, and in my view it would be the same such for deciding whether or not as a business I can afford the application fees or any potential cost that I might run into. In specific, in section 205- 4 paragraph B, the application fees are struck, saying that they would be set by a resolution but I don't believe it's fair to strike application fees without having a replacement for what those fees are. Otherwise they are subjective and unexpected. How do we know what we are going to have to put up front? Just as I would have to decide on any material I would have to purchase to produce my product, I need to know what my cost of business is. additionally in section 205-5 sections F and G, okay, where it states a deposit shall be made in the amount to be determined prior to issuance of the permit based upon the estimated direct costs attributable to additional police and highway costs associated with the event after the event, the deposit will be used to cover such costs and any monies remaining will be returned to the applicant. Section G, where the town determines that there is no specific town benefit from the event or that the event is conducted for profit, an additional deposit shall be made in an amount to be determined prior to the issuance of the permit based upon estimated direct costs attributed to any police, highway and cleanup costs associated with the event. After the event, the deposit will be used to cover such costs and any monies remaining will be returned to the applicant. If the costs incurred by the town exceeds the amount deposited, the applicant shall be responsible for additional costs incurred by the town as a result of this special event. I don't believe code of this nature is complete without defining how that is calculated. Again, it comes into the cost of doing business and I certainly wouldn't set up an event without knowing what it is going to cost me to begin with, so before this piece can be inserted into the code, I feel that it's only fair to us as citizens and business people, to know what it is that we are going to expect to pay and that as part of the approval or disapproval of a special event permit, this ought to be defined up front and within the code, what are those parameters, what is the yes and what is the no? To that effect, I do feel, it's, section E is mostly already written into the code, 205-5 section E defining a number of variables that determine whether an application is acceptable or not, there are a number of items that also don't have a definitive definition of what is approvable and what's not. And I believe the code to be applicable and fair needs to have those parameters defined within it. And additionally, cleanup costs, if an event is on a',business's property, how are cleanup costs to the town then defined? SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: The town wouldn't assign cleanup costs to a private property. MS. SHAPER: That's something determined based upon the event itself. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: That would be basically for events held on public property. Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertaimnent and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 13 MS. SHAPER: Gotcha. Anyway, my point is here, there needs to be some definitive parameters defined both in that type of sense where we know where certain costs are going to be charged to an entity and how much those costs are going to be. I think that's about my full point. Thank you very much for listening. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Thank you. Gail? GAIL WICKHAM: Gail Wickham, Cutchogue. I am sorry to jump ahead of the farming community here but I have a pressing engagement which unfortunately does not involve a 4"' of July festivity and so I would like to very briefly ask the Town Board if they would consider, after they hear the comments tonight and I thank you for scheduling the hearing and getting people involved, whether you would consider putting over the hearing for further date and comment or at least holding the record open for further written comments. I do have a number of comments both positive and critical that I would like to address but not tonight, given the press on my time and everyone else that wants to speak here but I do think tonight's hearing is difficult because of the scheduling on 4"' of July eve and the time period between the last hearing in March and today in July which is really the worst possible time for farmers to address these things not to mention the last four days of heat where they are really probably out irrigating and trying to keep their crops alive, I do think that this does go well beyond an administrative change into legislation and there has to be a broader review of it and I would hope that that would happen maybe in the months that aren't quite so hectic, after the harvest with code committee meetings which Scott had suggested during the March hearing, to have some input with the code committee or communication with ag advisory who I know has been working very hard on it but that would be my specific request tonight and be allowed to discuss at least in writing if not at a further hearing, some specific comments that I have for suggestions. I also have a letter from four local individuals and myself, addressing this from a general standpoint which I would like to submit for the record. Thank you. So do you have an idea of where you are going with this tonight in terms of a decision? SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: We would have to close the hearing and then it would be up to the Board on whether or not they want to vote tonight. MS. WICKHAM: And why do you have to close the hearing? SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Well, you can't take action on it unless you close the hearing. If the Board member wants to keep the hearing open, he or she can make a motion. MS. WICKHAM: For public comment and or written comment? SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: That would be the process. MS. WICKHAM: I would ask you, please do that, so that we can have further discussion on it of a more meaningful nature. Thank you. MIKE FALCETTA: Mike Falcetta from Sparkling Pointe in Southold. I think if there's a time to be making some changes to the code and I had brought this up in the past, at some other Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 14 meetings here, the code is already as it stands a little dangerous for a business person. We are often contracting with people and taking deposits for events and different things well in advance of an application. I mean, we can't apply for a date for an affair without having an affair. But we also have to take a booking for an affair and kind of wait in limbo as if it is going to be okay that we can have that affair, with no reasonable time, if there is a reasonable time frame or what the set time frames are, time can go on. I mean, somebody is giving a deposit to us, they are contracting with local caterers, tent companies, invitations go out, hotels, restaurants, I mean, I can go on and on the list on the things that the guests are financially obligating themselves to and we as business's are contracting ourselves to. if ever came a time where something that was essentially run of the mill or that we have been doing for years and years at different establishments becomes an opportunity that is denied, we as the businesses become in (inaudible) near breach of contract and how much money and what are we at stake for and do we need to have a legal battle at that point? It kind of becomes a catch 22, is this even worth it? Do we do this? I don't know, sometimes I don't know if it is worth it because there is the gamble every single time that we have an affair. I think there is a time to maybe look at this and maybe exam the different establishments that are having affairs and look at them and see what they are suited for. Is there something that could be held there on a regular basis that does not far exceed, is there sort of a set style of event or type of event that is suited to the location. I am trying to remember back when we had public hearings and different things for the building of our facility, having weddings and different affairs is something we were asked if we were going to do, we said yes, it was approved. Fast forward a few years and again, I agree things change but now out of thin air we had to start applying for wedding permits when we never had to do that originally. So I just think there's a time to look at this and exam where is that stake on the other side and are there maybe some opportunities to examine different locations, examine the most commonly used places and send somebody in, look at the space and maybe set something up that this is something that can be held here. We have fire sprinklers, proper bathrooms, different things like that, proper occupancy. If you can fit into that realm of what is normal, maybe that can be part of the everyday business. I just want you to consider that if at some point, an event did get rejected no matter for what reason you can come up with, that there can be some pretty major financial obligation and some pretty deep legal battles with somebody if they wanted to turn around and say we were in breach of contract. So I thank you for listening. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: I just want a clarification, you mention that you didn't need to apply for a wedding permit before and you would now, just so we are clear, special permits for a wedding have always been required. What is proposed tonight has no impact on that. MR. FALCETTA: Okay, I didn't know that, (inaudible) so maybe that's a mistake on my behalf but still doesn't affect the fact that we do have to take a deposit from somebody and then sort of wait... SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: A time issue. Fair enough. Fair enough. MR. FALCETTA: And if there are certain places and certain locations that fit a mold, then why not be able to hold those events without having to wait. And if we need to be advised of them or alerted of them and we have to pay the $150 in order to have it, non-issue. But thank you. Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 15 ADAM SUPRENANT: Hi, Adam Suprenant, Southold. I must say I agree with Leslie, this code, it needs to be modified in a very significant way. I understand this is an administrative change and not much is changed in the code besides striking out Leslie's office and then putting in the Town Board so I am encouraged by statements that not much is going to change here but I think that most of the speakers in this room are going to be recommending that things need to be changed with this particular section of the code. Now, I did an exhaustive research, I don't know why, I was bored one night so I decided to go on the town website and open up some applications and see what the whole process was about,just so I could better understand because I don't do special events for my business so I was not really aware of what was involved. I think one of the things that struck me was that I would say five or six applicants are responsible for all of the applicants in the town and it would seem to me like this town somehow could treat them like customers, and they are paying a fee and they need a permit and the town wants to make sure that the facility is in proper order to hold a special event but when one applicant has over 15 or 20 of the same type of events and they are just essentially refiling the same paperwork over and over again, I think it gets to the point of why is it necessary? I mean, for every event to be voted on by the Town Board. I just think it's kind of a waste of your resources to have to take this on where you are going to be doing I believe up to 80 if not more of these in any year and some of these are multiple permits on one application, so I think for me, somehow this has to be worked out administratively where either something is written into the zoning code that allows special events that it doesn't need a vote by the Town Board and it's more of a permit process, where there is a fire department inspection, there's a site plan on file with you know, an event site plan as it's written in the code on file as to where the tent goes, what the capacity is, where the parking is, etc. etc., but once you have that on file you shouldn't have to need to resubmit that every time and you know,just add to the whole bureaucracy of the process. So I am really hoping that perhaps in the future, there could be code committee or some push on this where, and again I think you are going to hear from most of the members in this room, this, we would like to see some change here and I think first steps are great and hopefully we can make this process work for all of us so that the town is satisfied and we as an industry and also many other businesses that want to get into this type of activity can be satisfied. Thank you very much. PRUDENCE HESTON: Prudence Heston, Salt Air Farm. I just wanted to follow up on some of the comments that some have been making here in terms of the longevity piece for putting in for these permits. I have some brides that are wanting to book, one, two, some of them talk to you three years in advance, of wanting to have an event on your farm. The further out that we know that somebody wants to have an event, the better it is for me as a farmer. It helps me to plan in terms of what to plant for this bride, how to make this person happy, from my farm, the way that we do that we are actually working with each bride along the way. For what to grow for them to make their day really successful. And when I come in with an application and I have got somebody who is booking, she has paid me a deposit two years out and I come in to fill out my application permits and I told, sorry you can't even apply for that yet, that's not in this year. and just like he was saying; I am really left on the hook here. I have told this person that yeah, they can get married on my farm. They are making all of those plans along the way and you know, I am not doing anything that should cause any kind of problem there, there's always this question mark that's in your mind and that's worrisome and it would be very worrisome for the bride if they knew and I think it would be one of those things that the town would want to be thinking about how to make it when you are doing these things over and over again and you are doing it Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 16 well and you are doing it nicely, that there should be a way to do that and not have to come in for every single thing but be guaranteed that yeah, I can tell this person with confidence that they can make this happen. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Thank you. Who else would like to address the Town Board? Steve? STEVE BATES: Steve Bates, Long Island Wine Council. Actually, I have been asked to read a letter for the record, which I will give you a copy of. It's from Louisa Hargrave. It starts, "To Supervisor Russell and Town Board, I want to make it clear that I have no affiliation with a winery or a farm. But as a taxpayer in the Town of Southold, I do have an interest in maintaining future viability of the town and its resources. I believe that the preservation of agriculture and of the business of agriculture are keys to that end. I favor the codification of the Agricultural Advisory Committee, let's recognize the extensive contribution those who have served on it in the past have made to our community and of the importance of legitimizing these efforts. Regarding the proposed new regulations and some of your actions on social media, I have the following questions: please let your answers be on the record. Are you aware of how much the wineries and their tasting rooms contribute to the local property taxes?" SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Would you like me to answer? I probably assessed (inaudible). MR. BATES: "Do you think it is fair to characterize them as getting a free ride in comparison to the town's other businesses that serve alcohol?" SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: No, it's not fair. MR. BATES: "Suffolk County Farmland Preservation Program went into effect in the 1970's, not only to save farms but also to reduce taxes. Farms cost municipalities far less than residential and commercial properties. What would it cost the town if farms with development rights were intact were developed?" SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Yes, well, that would depend on an awful lot of things. MR. BATES: "When I was asked to serve on the Farm Alcohol Working Group last year, the group was told our mission was to look at existing zoning and to make new recommendations that took into account changing needs of the community and agri-business. Mr. Supervisor, we soon learned that you had another agenda when you told me and another member of the group in the presence of your staff, finally anti-winery (inaudible), since you often speak of the importance of preserving farms, what kind of farms do you see as viable if not vineyards and their adjacent wineries?" SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Do you want me to answer that? Actually, that's not what I said. I said I have been called anti-winery for years and it has gotten to the point with the winery fatigue that to some people they want to hear that. I am not saying I agree with it but when you talk about allowing wineries on less than five acres, they need to understand the fatigue that's Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 17 involved in that. There's too much acreage to sit back and say, yes as many as can be built. That's not plausible. MR. BATES: "How do you on the Board, in the past year, see your actions relating to the Republican party mandate to lessen government regulation? Why legislate such complex regulations?" COUNCILMAN RULAND: An administrative change is complex? I find that hard to understand. MR. BATES: I will come back to that. Her plea, my plea, "Allow more flexibility in farming practices. We can't foresee future needs. Allow farmers to buy, sell and trade each others products freely, include zoning for small wineries supported by plantings of 10 acres or less. This would allow farms to include vineyards with other crops, the small winery can limit access to visitors for tastings by appointment in a space the size of a farm stand. And recognize that visitors want to experience the farms themselves, they just don't come to drink." Thank you. Just to follow up on that with my own personal comments, if it were only administrative, if it were only that one paragraph that establishes the committee formally to replace (inaudible) approving the permits over the years, but if it were only that one paragraph then it would be administrative but as Ali said, you are taking away the fees, leaving it arbitrary and open, you are establishing cleanup fees on private business property, it doesn't say you may, it says you shall give a deposit of$250. You know, there are things in here that are establishing new levels of penalties and given the uncertainty of permitted uses, that's unfortunate to have that kind of risk attached to someone's event. I keep saying that we need to deal with permitted uses in the code and you know, last meeting we talked about food to complement wine tasting and I was told it was in the code. It is not in the code, it is not in the zoning code. Nor are a lot of things that people are doing, hosting art shows, selling art work. That's allowed under state liquor authority law but it's not allowed in the current code. There are a lot of things I think that have become acceptable over time but if you really wanted, if somebody complained about them, you'd say, yeah, it's not a permitted use. So there are things that really need to be updated to both current state law but also practiced. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: I am unaware of any requirement to pay for a cleanup deposit on private property. This special events legislation pertains to all special events and in many instances it requires public property. Also the requirement to pay in advance, that's if you need traffic control provided by Southold Town. MR. BATES: I get the estimate, that could be of use too but here on, 205-5 paragraph D, your application shall include a minimum cleanup deposit of$250. It's not a huge amount but still, the business is going to have to be paying that themselves, why should they have to deposit that? COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: As you heard on the agenda tonight, several special events we approved tonight, a lot of the fees have been waived, so that's basically how we have been handling it. so it doesn't, if you are on a private property, we would waive that fee. MR. BATES: Why not write that in the legislation? So if it's not impacting... I Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 18 COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY:. That's the way we have it written right now and it's consistent with other sections of the code. MR. BATES: The other thing I noticed is there's an additional insurance requirement, the old language had $1,000,000 per occurrence insurance requirement to name Southold as additionally insured, there's a new one of not less than $2,000,000 naming Southold as additionally insured. COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: We did a resolution in 2017 based on recommendations from our insurance company to up it to $2,000,000, so we have been doing that for a while. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: It's been two years, it's been $2,000,000 for two years and that's because the insurance carrier required us to. MR. BATES: Does that mean one of these provisions needs to be deleted? You are going to have one insurance requirement, not two? COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: What do you mean? MR. BATES: If you look at section 205-4 paragraph A sub paragraph 10, the applicant must provide a certificate of general liability insurance. COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: But.... MR. BATES: And then if you go further down, paragraph F, the new language... COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: It's just saying the liability insurance in two spots. One mentions the amount and the other one is just saying you need it. MR. BATES: One says one million, the other says two million. COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: Oh, okay. They both need to be changed to two million. MR. BATES: So I guess this also goes to Gail's point, we hope that this could remain open so we can further discuss it because there are some things that go beyond the administrative (inaudible). Thank you. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: I just want Ed to go, everybody to speak first, oh, okay. MS. SHAPER: We discussed it, I will just be brief. Ali Shaper again. Just to follow up on some of the points that Steve was just making and that I had brought up as well. The points that we are trying to make is that there are pieces in this particular pieces of paper is it's ambiguous, what's being charged and for what. And not to belabor the point about the cleanup fee, it's just an example, it doesn't specify that it's specifically for events held on municipal land as opposed to private citizen property or private business property. It's extremely important to have these things precise, otherwise it becomes confusing and leads to difficulty in deciding whether or not you can do anything within your business and it will become difficult for the Town Board and Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 19 the special events committee to determine does this fit an approvable application or doesn't it? So a suggestion I might have is maybe it's written in by a chart or by a table of some sort that's included with code for special events, if citizens of Southold Town agree with this, that there is a chart that specifically outlines on what parameter these fees are calculated and how. For example, if you are going to have an event that includes 300 people, it will require police officers and two fire officers to be on call or on-site, what have you, and our fees are calculated according to per square foot of the venue or something of that nature. Something that is very easy to read, easy to interpret and is not subject to all of us 60 people in here debating what is the appropriate price. Just a thought. COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: Can I just explain to you, the reason why we are changing the one part where the fees are established by the Town Board is we are trying to make the code consistent with other sections and what we do on our January organizational meeting is set fees for the year so you will know what the fees are. MS. SHAPER: Alright. COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: When it comes to the police department fees, that's a little more difficult because the Chief establishes that and he determines based on what staff is available, what the venue is and so he analyzes that and gives us a calculation that would be handed off to the person holding the event prior to that, so he will know. MS. SHAPER: Is his process for that documented anywhere? SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: The Chief's? MS. SHAPER: Yeah. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: We are going to count on his expertise. He will give us a breakdown... MS. SHAPER: He's the one who is going to know how he is going to allocate his resources... COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: He gives us a breakdown of each individual one. MS. SHAPER: My suggestion is that that is codified and that's something that can also be modified as years go by and costs change and labor costs change and so on but that would be extraordinarily helpful for us as people who operate these businesses and operate these events, at least to get a ballpark figure of where we are going to land cost wise. COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: It's a little difficult to codify something like that because you have the changes, not just yearly, but you know our liability changes, our insurance changes, our union changes, so we would be having hearings on changing fees and procedures every other month. Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 20 SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Can I just ask if there is anybody that has required traffic control for your private events at all? In the five years since this code has been viable? We can ask Leslie that. MS. WEISMAN: Very rarely. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Generally we insist on a parking plan and then we usually go to a private party to have that done. COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: Maybe Leslie, you can answer this, have you ever had an event by a private, that was anything more than normal when you charged? I mean, the fee is the fee. MS. WEISMAN: It depends on the size of the event. The code now says if you are going to have more than 300 cars that you need a parking plan, okay, you need to show safe ingress and egress but the only reason to have a permit is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community, to make sure that the public when they come on to your property, that they also are equally protected. That's the only reason you need a permit. COUNCILMAN DINZIO: About the fee.... MS. WEISMAN: The fee doesn't change. The fee is the same amount whether you require traffic control or not. The cost may be different because they have to maybe hire somebody to do that kind of traffic control. COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: Inaudible. MS. WEISMAN: But the town is not getting anything from that. COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: Right. So normally the fee is whatever, $200. MS. WEISMAN: $150. And the, when you consider the fact that nine people evaluate every one of those applications and you can have up to six over a three month period on one $150 application and what, you know, what is being yielded in terms of the profit on having a wedding venue, it's a pretty affordable fee. Late fees I almost always waive when there's a reasonable request and a reason for them coming in late. Non-profits often get the fees waived entirely except for the $50 processing fee. I mean, it's not meant to be a punishment, it's meant to be a simple, easy way of ensuring safety is in place, the police need to know when there is going to be heavy traffic impacts and the reason I think it's important for the Town Board to deal with these regularly as I have done for eight years is because you get to see what people are trying to do in the town and you get see if there's an issue or not an issue. I mean, you have to ask yourself, if something is being repeated again and again and again, is it special or is it a business model? You know, and those are the things that the business and the agricultural community can help the Town Board address when it's timely. But I have felt for a long time that the only reason I was given this job by the Town Board was because in a strange way and it's purely an administrative function, I want everyone to understand the ZBA has nothing to do with special events. We are an appellate jurisdiction. There's nothing to appeal here, this is a permit process. It is strictly Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 21 administrative and the ZBA office takes care of it with me as chair and department head,just as an administrative thing. Just like when you go and get a beach sticker, it's meant to be that but it's more complicated because there are more impacts. It's one thing if you are holding music events in an open field where there are no houses around, it's quite another if you are surrounded by houses that are affecting the neighbors. So it needs to be looked at on a site specific basis and I know the Town Board has discussed many times the possibility of having a permit based on a specific site plan approval, you know, so that everybody knows what your site capacity is, what the parking capacity or the building capacity is and you can move forward. Those are the creative things that need to be done to balance the interests of business and agriculture with the welfare of the people of Southold Town. The Town Board is ready to do it but all this proposed legislation is giving the Town Board a better opportunity to be better informed about these issues. And to be ready to make changes where everyone understands what the changes should be. So you know, I welcome that change, I will continue to be on this special event committee and the whole goal would be to make it efficient so that there's no delays. The Town Board is in no position to process that type of paperwork. It has to be done in an office, administrative environment. So the infrastructure's been proposed to be put into place so that information can be gathered and complete and then given to the Town Board to review on a regular basis. COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: Thank you. In any case, the fee has always been that straight fee. MS. WEISMAN: Absolutely. It's never varied. COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: You have never sent any private person a bill for police services? MS. WEISMAN: Not at all. COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: Okay, well we have. I know we have for one but on a normal basis, if someone comes in and gets a.special event permit, it's $150, it's what it has always been, if they are late we have the opportunity to charge them a little more, we probably never will. Most of the time the applicants are happy to pay it anyway because they want to get what they need, so that whole fee schedule thing is more, in my opinion, for the public streets being closed.... MS. WEISMAN: It's for the larger events that you have always handled. We've never had that kind of concern, never once. Not on the kind of applications that are for less than 1,000 people, don't use municipal land, don't require a street closing. So, like Strawberry Fields, you have to have a cleanup, I mean, it's a totally different scale and the Town Board has always grappled with that but if you look at all of them, you are going to have a fuller understanding of exactly what is going on in the town and you are our elected officials, you are the ones that have the responsibility of helping this town grow in the direction you feel is in the best interest of the town. And that includes, of course, the preservation of agriculture. There is no one that objects to that, no one that wouldn't support that. But most of the events are weddings. The vast majority, there are others but the vast majority are weddings and we all know that. And frequency is an issue also, traffic impacts is an issue, noise impacts is an issue. But the whole idea of the special event permit is it allows you to do something the code doesn't normally allow you to do as of right. Which is why in a way it was handed to the ZBA decision instead of the Planning Board because the ZBA generally grants relief from restrictive codes. So that was the Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 22 rationale originally and it has been working okay but the best way to know how to go forward is for you to be dealing with them. In my opinion. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: who else would like to address the Town Board? ED DART: Hello everyone, I wanted to offer my observations first on sort of the evolution of agriculture in Southold Town and how that evolutionary process could be affecting such things as the special events laws and so forth. I am Ed Dart and I have a 17 acre Christmas tree and evergreen nursery on Bayview Road in Southold. For the last 40 years we have been a destination farm where primarily out of town customers travel to our place for family Christmas tree outings and to enjoy the farm experience. Currently, I get most of my new tree customers via internet marketing. I couldn't imagine a few years ago that a farmer would be marketing on the internet and that's where our customers are coming from but that's what it has become now. before me, and well before the internet, my parents raised corn, tomatoes and green vegetables and they sold them to passing motorists at a road side stand when such marketing method was still considered a new idea. Most customers were summer residents and visitors who appreciated the direct farm to customer freshness and value and the novel idea of buying directly from the farmer. Before them, my grandparents never met their customers. They raised potatoes and row crops which were shipped off to the city, either by truck or by rail, never to be seen again. the growers were at one end of the line and the customers were at the other. Those days are gone, it's a new ballgame out there and the farming business has changed. To continue to be viable, all of us in the farming business have evolved and adapted to the changing market. We need your support to continue that evolution. The customers are coming to Southold from the west, not only to buy our ag products but because they want to interact at our farms as well. Please don't stand in their way. This is our 102nd year on our farm. Each generation before me sold off half of the farm. Half once, and then half again. I am trying to hang on to the remaining part. I am not trying to go out of the farming business, I am trying to be a better farmer for the long haul, in a changing market environment. If you value the local farmers, which we believe are the backbone of the local character and economy, you must respect the farmer and not obstruct us in our efforts to keep pace in the evolving market place. Southold farmers need new tools to keep our farms thriving. When I say new tools, I am not talking about farm equipment, in this instance, I am speaking about the tool of enabling local legislation to support and empower us to evolve. Successful farm enterprises everywhere now include such things as hosting farm weddings as an accepted farm related activity. I wish to be able to host some reasonable, reasonable, events at my farm with certainty, within reasonable guidelines and without bureaucratic drag. Farm weddings-do not require the construction of new, permanent structures, nor the asphalt paving of our fields and they do not change the scenic vistas in any way. They are very brief momentary events, lasting only a few hours with the dreaded music only a couple of hours at most. It's a small price to pay, I urge you not to bow to the whinings of a vocal few who have heard some music off in the distance. I believe the majority of Southold residents value the farms that are around them and would accept and encourage the Town to empower the farmers to continue to innovate by enabling limited special events the likes of farm weddings and such as an additional marketing tool to promote the sale of our core agricultural products. I know that if I exposed my farming, my products to first time visitors at a farm wedding, that some will return as customers to buy my farm products, and they have. Please, again, don't stand in their way. I see the current proposed legislation only as a one sided solution for the Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 23 town's administrative problem, I understand that but nothing for our side. And I am concerned that if you pass this, that our turn may never come. I am concerned about that. I urge you to put aside this proposal and let's work together to develop a broader proposal that can includes something for both sides of the table. Thank you. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Who else would like to address the Town Board? BENJA SCHWARTZ: Benja Schwartz, Cutchogue. I just would like to thank the previous speaker, I think it was a very thoughtful, intelligent comment and I agree with him. However, I also agree with the chairwoman who was the first speaker at this public hearing and her ideas also make a lot of sense. Anybody else agree with.... UNIDENTIFED: Inaudible. MR. SCHWARTZ: Not if you have anything to do with it. I think I have something to say... COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: Benja, can you... MR. SCHWARTZ: I'm sorry. I don't want to get sidetracked. So what happens after this public hearing tonight? Is it possible you could vote to adopt this law tonight? I didn't see any agenda item or maybe I missed it? COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: Yes, it's very possible. MR. SCHWARTZ: That is one possibility. Is it possible that you might modify the proposed law and adopt it or you might reserve decision and make a decision in the future at another meeting. If you are thinking about adopting this tonight, I would second the comment of the chairwoman that began this and I would say that you, at the very least, need to modify this proposal to strike the reference to the `determination of' and just leave its prior decision. There's some other things, rather trivial, where you define the special event committee, the second line says special even committee. And that comment was made prior to this, I don't know if you had another hearing on this or, I remember making that comment to you before and yet somehow it didn't get corrected. It never got changed. I also think that there's another section in here where you left in section 205/8, modification, recession of permit, it still says the ZBA chairperson or the Town Board may for good cause modify or rescind such permit absolutely or upon condition. Is the ZBA chairperson still going to have that authority? TOWN ATTORNEY DUFFY: It is struck out. COUNCILMAN GHOSIO: But not at the end of the paragraph. MR. SCHWARTZ: It's struck out at the top of the paragraph but in the last sentence of the paragraph it's still there. And in the same paragraph, in the same sentence, I think it would be appropriate, it says there for good cause. So there it says for good cause, in the original granting of the permit it doesn't even mention good cause. Section 205/6, that's appeal for denial of the permit, it says that all's that's necessary to reconsider an application is to file a copy of it. I think Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 24 it also, it seems self-explanatory but maybe it would be helpful to require a showing of good cause for a change of decision, appeal and maybe that good cause could relate to the same factors that are listed in the original application but it still should say requiring good cause. Last time we discussed this, I remember suggesting that having the Town Board consider all these special event permits may not be practical. I see in this proposed law, the application has to be 60 days before a permit and the event committee has 30 days to make a recommendation to the Town Board so by inference we can say that gives the Town Board a minimum of 30 days to decide if the event is applied for 60 days but what if the event is applied for a year in advance? What happens then? The special events committee still has to report to the Town Board in 30 days but the Town Board, according to this law can just take their sweet time before making a decision. I think the applicants are entitled to a timely decision by the Town Board. There should be a provision in here for how long the Town Board has, if they are going to be the ones deciding. I am not sure the Town Board is really the one deciding in this law, this law appoints the chairperson of the special events committee to be the government liaison officer, formerly known as special projects coordinator. Maybe in the future the event coordinator, special events coordinator. I am not sure that's a bad person to give a decision to, I would prefer to see a law where the Town Board shifts the responsibility from the ZBA to the government liaison officer. I do think it would be appropriate to give a new title, along with this new responsibility or preferably, the suggestion that I made previously that I never got any response to was to hire someone in the Planning Department to make these decisions. That to me would make a lot of sense just the same as, I don't this that this is, I disagree that this is like a beach permit. That is a purely bureaucratic act. The Building Department is also considered to be bureaucratic and administrative but that's why you have the ZBA and the Planning Board to sometimes intervene, to add to the zoning or the ZBA to modify or vary the zoning but in this case, I think the appointment of the government liaison officer, not just to make recommendation to the Town Board but to make the decision would enable that the Town Board to focus more on what it is supposed to do and what the chairwoman suggested that it do, to continue to develop the standards and the substance of this law. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Appreciate it. MR. SCHWARTZ: Last question, at what point will these event applications be made public and at what point will and where and when will the Town Board consider these applications? Will this mean longer work sessions? I mean, will there be public consideration after the referrals from the event committee or will the Town Board do that, just pop out decisions at a Town Board meeting whether it is approved or not? SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: We would come to the decision at work session and I assume pass a resolution that evening. It would go on the agenda, so there is an opportunity for public input there. If the application is turned down; then a public hearing would be scheduled so the applicant can come and explain why they should, we should allow the event to go forward.... MR. SCHWARTZ: I don't see any requirement for public hearing on here. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: There's not, on the appeal. Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 25 TOWN ATTORNEY DUFFY: There is for the appeal. MR. SCHWARTZ: There is for the appeal. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Right. MR. SCHWARTZ: Is there currently any.... SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: No. No, that would take forever to get the applications through. COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: The public has the opportunity to read the resolution and comment at the meeting. COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: Like for example today, before we started the meeting, Scott asked if there were any comments on any of the agenda items and if you had a comment on any of the special events that we had on here, that's the time that you would have to comment. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: I think you are referencing the existing special events legislation and I don't believe there's a public comments section. I believe that gets issued by the ZBA chairwoman when she signs off... MR. SCHWARTZ: Inaudible. What I am trying to say is, I have no problem with the ZBA chairwoman or the government liaison officer or the building department making decisions without the public seeing what they are doing, but it's my understanding that when the Town Board makes a decision, the public are entitled to be involved in the process and that's why I really don't quite understand how you can legally change this. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Thank you. SAL DILIBERTO: Sal Diliberto, board member Long Island Wine Council and I will be very brief. I think that the speaker prior to Mr. Schwartz really was eloquent on putting his finger on the problem and I think the problem with all regulations or laws like proposed law like this stems from the definition, for example, of special event. Any temporary gathering, demonstration, performance, exhibition, amusement or activity that is not currently a permitted use of the property. That whole concept of what is a permitted use, we know that wineries are permitted to be on property, but what is a winery? Is a winery a place that is permitted to sell wine, is that it's only permitted use? Or is it permitted to market its wines? Is it permitted to do things in an effort to market its wines in a way that is different perhaps than it was marketed 40 or 50 years ago? You know, I don't think that anyone who is from western Suffolk, Nassau County or the City of New York needs to come to the Town of Southold to buy a bottle of wine, I think they could find a lot of different places to buy a bottle of wine but they come here for more than the wine. They come here for the farm experience. They come here because they have an opportunity to here, a place that has been preserved for so many hundreds of years through the work and the effort of the farming community. And we get the benefit of that today, we meaning the winery owners and the vineyards because people come here because they want to be here because I would imagine that many of the people that have lived here their whole life don't Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 26 appreciate here as much as people who don't live here do. They come from another place, they come to have a different type of experience. Limiting the definition of what is a permitted use is the problem. It is the problem that gives rise to the issue of the food trucks later on. It is the problem that gives rise to these regulations. So I am less concerned with the functioning of this particular law and more concerned with why the town is not doing what some speakers have suggested which is take a serious look at wineries and farm operations and look at the ways today that they have to market their product. It is not the same as it was years ago. I just happened to have been rummaging through some stuff that I pulled out of a house that I bought years ago and I found this old magazine, Country Home, the August 1936 edition and you can laugh when you see the products that were being marketed there and how they were being marketed. Marketing has changed over the years and now there is a change that has become very, very rapid, because of the internet, because of social media, because you don't find the kinds of ads you used to find in publications anymore. I think the town, if the town really wants to address the future of the town, the town really has to take a serious look at that and look less at how can we regulate, how can we slow it down, how can we keep control of it, look at the ways that you can make it easier for the farmer, easier for the winery owners to do things that you know they should be permitted to do. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: I appreciate that, I really do. Just in the context of this legislation, I don't know how we get that done. So those are the discussions I assure Steve, we will sit down and talk about special events, many of them should be considered the method of doing business, (inaudible) I agree with you with all that and I assure him we will sit down and get that all done. Now we are just trying to get some work off the plate of one person who says I am not doing this anymore. That's what it gets down to. MR. DILIBERTO: I appreciate it. Thank you. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: And frankly, we don't either but no one else was willing to do it. Who else would like to address the Town Board? ERIC SEPENOSKI: Hi, Eric Sepenoski, East Marion. I second the comments made about the tree farm and about the new ways of marketing products. I teach writing at the university level in Boston and am a PhD candidate at Northeastern University and one of the things I see there and frankly nationally, is an interest, a desire to not only buy food that is grown in local places and consume it there but to see how it is grown and be on the land, I think our lands and be able to experience them directly should be considered a regular use. One of the questions I have to follow up, unrelated to that, in the paper here 205-6 article 3, 1 was curious how it says that events that are held on town land or events exceeding, these are events the town holds? I am curious from the Board why that entire section has been struck? SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Oh, because the way the code was set up there was the review process that was covered under the ZBA chair and if it was over 1,000 people was under the Town Board review. Now that we are reviewing them all, it would be redundant to keep that separate section.. Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 27 MR. SEPENOSKI: Okay. And if the logic applies to the redundancy at the town level, wouldn't it also be redundant to businesses that do this regularly as the town does on its lands? COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: I think you are confusing, you are interpreting it.... COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: The town doesn't hold these special events, it's fire departments, you know, when they ask us usually it involves public roads, parades, all those things that we have liability. So that's why we make the decision there, so they give us the $2,000,000... MR. SEPENOSKI: Okay. COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: It hasn't really got much to do with wineries and private land. And the town doesn't hold the events. MR. SEPENOSKI: Thanks. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Steve? Well, we are going to close the hearing first and then you can talk about taxes right after everybody is done. Kate first. KATHRYN SEPENOSKL• Kathryn Sepenoski, East Marion. I want to thank Chairperson Weisman for all the hard work over all these years that she has served. I have been in front of her several times for zoning issues that were unrelated to agriculture and I always found it refreshing clear on how to proceed. I do not find that with what we are dealing with necessarily with agriculture. I feel it's been made ambiguous so that we constantly have to try and figure out how to move forward for the best of our business. And we already deal with nature and it's unclear direction, whether we are getting 5 inches of rain one day or whether we are getting five days of blasting heat and trying to keep that going while attending what is necessary to make sure that we don't lose what is our focus as an agricultural community. So I looked over the proposal and I was told that things that were underlined were new and that things that had a line through it were being struck from the record, so I am just unclear why it was suggested by you Scott, that we meet as a group and we could have heard many of these things from Chairperson Weisman in a setting where we were having a discussion at a code meeting, where we all could have participated so we could have raised these questions and maybe had a clearer presentation that was going to hearing but you are hearing them now because this is our only opportunity, so I would hope that you would do as Gail had suggested and table voting on it so that more people can snake comments on it, including Gail. Obviously she has more positive and negative but what is upsetting to me is right away in 205-1 it talks about providing penalties, it is not about moving forward and supporting a business model as Leslie has said. The mushroom of it speaks volumes that we are having to do these things in order to evolve our businesses, to be more successful and to accommodate what is being asked of us by the public, to experience what we hold so dear because we speak about it passionately when they come to our farms. I'm not happy with the wording any event, I mean, any event could mean people showing up, more than two people showing up on my farm for their CSA? Is that considered an event? Is a group of school children who are coming to my farm to see how potatoes come out of the ground or pick pumpkins or go to a Christmas tree farm, anything of that nature where you are having a gathering of more than two people, is that considered having a special event now? it's too Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 28 ambiguous to me that I don't know how I can move forward what I am supposed to be applying for, what someone might show up for as code enforcement to say, oh, I saw, somebody reported that you have 16 cars here and you have a group of people in the back, are you having a special event which could ruin someone's experience of the North Fork and farms and I just think that we need to sit down together and see where we might have that common ground to move forward and if there are things that are part of doing business on an ag district or an agricultural situation, we are using the word business, you have also referred to residential zoning but we are clearly operating businesses and I think some of that terminology needs to be worked out so that going forward, the issue about serving food that is primarily grown on the farm, if I have a crop failure and I need to get something from a neighbor to sell it or put it in my product so that I am still serving the public, those are the things that need understanding from your part so that you will better serve the whole community. And a lot of what has happened, Scott, and why so many people are showing up and to the Board members as well, there has been quite a bit of fear injected into our industry over what you may or may not decide to do with our livelihoods. And we deal with that on the basis of nature already, we don't need that to be so unclear and feel so threatened by what we are proposing to do. As Leslie has said, many, many applications have come through and there's very few of them that have gone beyond the bounds of a certain style. That have needed that kind of oversight. So I hope that you set this aside, open some dialogue where we can have a meeting, where we can talk about this as you proposed in March, following that hearing. So that we can all come up with a reasonable solution. Thank you. MICHAEL VARIALE: Good evening, my name is Michael Variale, I am from East End Wedding Events. Just a couple of things, the last time I spoke here this room was packed with many of the people that I represent. Obviously having a meeting on a holiday weekend, a lot of people said Mike, we have catering events tomorrow, whose putting up tents, whose doing what, so apparently the next time you have this meeting, please don't schedule it around a holiday weekend. So that we can show, we can pack this room out like last time. Also, one thing that wasn't mentioned tonight was the impact, the economy impact on an event. If Ed is able to have that special event at his farm, I mean, right on through the farmer from the local produce who is picking the farm as a job because of that, Ed is able to market his trees at that event. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: I am sorry, (inaudible), can I just point out that the public hearing is for that one administrative change and all of this we are happy to hear if we can just get through the hearing. I mean, I am not, please go forward, I just want you to understand what the public hearing is specifically about. MR. VARIALE: I just wanted to make sure that the point taken on the July 3rd meeting was very difficult for the people in the special events industry to make it here. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: I would agree. Let me just tell you, if we had it two weeks ago we would have been accused of steam rolling the thing through, if we have it two weeks from now, well, it's a 4:30 meeting we are going to be accused of having the meeting deliberately where everybody is not off of work yet. We have gone through that before. We tried to have it at a night meeting so as many people could attend as possible. And it's six weeks after we actually noticed it so that people had plenty of time to review it and submit recommendations and things like that. Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 29 MR. VARIALE: Thank you. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Thank you. Would anyone else like to address the Town Board? CHRIS BAIZ: Chris Baiz, Southold. I promised myself I wouldn't talk about this thing but a couple of nits in 205-3, permit required, some of the strikeout, little paragraph refers to article 2 and then we flip over to the next page and then article 2 is special events requiring a chairperson of ZBA approval permit when I think what you mean, article 2 addresses application requirements and procedures. Is that correct? I hate to bring up that nit but its' there and it's been bothering me since about 3:15 this afternoon. The other thing I would like to have the Town Board, the Ag Advisory letter of March 27th at work session to the Town Board on this code, we gave you several recommendations, change of office for application submissions and this straight forward, not an issue, we talked about multiple versus single events and that was corrected immediately. We talked about for the future, we talked about exempting all private, by invitation only events but that's not part of this tonight... SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: That would be part of the subsequent review. MR. BAIZ: Right. And I think if the Town Board would clearly make that known to our guests this evening, that we would understand that there is a future beyond just getting the administration checked out. And then the other issue, one of the other recommendations that came into Ag Advisory and so much of that we were hearing tonight is annual single permit for same type events, rather than, and so in some places they have indoor capacity they don't even need to get a special events permit but those of us who are too poor to have 10,000 square foot structures for us to host our special events in, we have to get special events permits. The other issue that I learned from members of the Board, when you have a special event permit, the town's noise ordinance does not apply and the only way that we ever find out that there is a neighborly issue is that there is a complaint when the neighbor calls in but it is never addressed by the police coming out and measuring the decibel level. And I personally and my wife said you better get it back in there, is that noise ordinance should apply so that if there is a complaint, it's measured and it's determined to be in violation or not in violation and nine times out of ten, it's never in violation. So again, I refer you back to our March 27th letter to the Board at work session and the one last thing, a week ago last Wednesday at 4:05 in the afternoon, my wife got a phone call from a tent company that was going to put up a tent the following Saturday at our venue and she said we couldn't get a tent permit because you don't have a special event permit for that day. And great tizzy, bride was all upset, the groom was beside himself, he was also my son and now you know where I am going with this, so I said don't worry I will go down to the Building Department at 8:05 tomorrow morning and I showed up at 8:05 and I explained the situation and Mike pulled a yellow pad out from under the counter, slapped it on the desk and he said, write me a letter. And so I wrote him a letter in about 5 '/z minutes citing paragraph 3 or whatever and I walked out of there in about 13 '/z minutes with my tent permit. So the town is resilient, is responsive and sometimes we have to get some steps out of the way. I think from the Ag Advisory point of view that the Board will be more involved with special events permits as needed, that the Board gets a better understanding of what our marketplace is and what is going on here and how do we deal with all of this and you know, they sort of sit in a vacuum, not knowing what these applications are and what they look like and the whole thing about the Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 30 applications and number two in the list of things that you have got to do in the beginning, the address of the event and in the event application, the first thing they know about you anywhere is your Suffolk County tax map number and so that's your address and so that should determine immediately whether it is on public property, private property and what the fees are or what the fees are not and you know, I take some guidance from a couple of speakers, well, what's a police officer going to cost us if we have to have a police officer, so you know, and people can live with a ballpark number but is it $500 for the day, is it $1,000, is it $5,000 and nobody knows. Thanks very much for listening to me. I have got to go home and close the chickens up. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Thank you, Chris. Would anybody else like to address the Town Board on this particular change? UNIDENTIFIED: My only question is, why did we not make it solely administrative and Ms. Weisman, I totally respect that you need to get out of this position. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Meaning? UNIDENTIFIED: Why isn't the code just written for the administrative change and not all the other changes in the code? Being that there is so much concern here and a lot of people haven't had the chance to speak. We actually closed the hearing the last time you guys tabled it, we were told that we would open up and have a discussion about it and we have not. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Oh, I had a meeting, Steve Bate was there, I met with the Ag Advisory Committee at the discussion, I know a representative from the Farm Bureau was there. we discussed the special events legislation....where you at that meeting, Steve? MR. BATE: Inaudible. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Where I went over and I asked three times at the conclusion of the discussion, is this okay, is this okay? UNIDENTIFIED: That's understandable about the Ag Advisory but there are a lot of people that are not agriculture related that need to have some input in this type of code. It's not solely agriculture, it's understandable that the Ag Advisory needs to weigh in but so do other people. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Which is why we gave six weeks notice for the public hearing. We put it out everywhere. ANTHONY SANINNO: That's understandable, six weeks ago, at what point where we able to speak other than today? SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: At any time. Any time. COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: At any time. You know, you can write a letter, if you have complaints about the, if you see something in there you don't like, let us know. Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 31 SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Town Board meetings. COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: We had one letter, it was from a guy who lives across the street from Peconic Landing who doesn't like the music. MR. SANINNO: I thought this was our opportunity. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Public meetings, all of those things. I thought you were there but I will correct myself if I am wrong. MR. BATE: We did submit a letter with detailed comments and I am not sure of the timing of all the meetings but it was prior to the first public hearing. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Yes, that was the letter regarding all of the changes that were outside of the scope of these changes. I think the meeting was May 16. You, I think you were sitting to the left but we will talk to Chris and we will look at the minutes. The minutes of the Ag Advisory. COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: Do you have any other comments that pertain to the changes tonight? MR. SANINNO: Oh, I just think that there's a lot of ambiguous points to the code. I think you guys need to do a lot of work and I think you need to table this, maybe just do another resolution to do the change in the administrative part and give us time to sit down at a code committee meeting or something. That would be my request. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Fair enough. Would anybody else like to address the Town Board on this? BRENT PELTON: Good evening. My name is Brent Pelton from Greenport. I own a restaurant and two hotels on the North Fork and I am out here tonight because these events have enormous economic impact in the entire community and there does need to be certainty, not ambiguity, for the process of getting these permits and the ability to have them down the road. My restaurant in the hotel has hosted overnight guests at Sparkling Pointe, we are talking with a wedding party at Salt Air, vineyards, Bedell for next year, the events book up two years in advance, so it's so important that there's very straightforward rules in place so that there's certainty at the marketplace. We are able to hire people and keep our restaurant open year round largely because of these events keeping us busy. So thank you very much for your work here and I appreciate being able to speak to you. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Thank you. Kate? MS. SEPENOSKI: One of the things that, it wasn't underlined but change or intensification of the permitted use of the property necessitating a use variance or further site plan review is number 13 in section 205-5 but in section C, it talks about considering the approval or denial by the committee. I am still a little unclear about who the committee is if on the first page it talks Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 32 about the newly about justice, I forget of the wording of it, government liaison officer. Who is that person? SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: That would be Denis Noncarrow, he replaced Philip Beltz when he retired. MS. SEPENOSKI: So he will act as the chairperson and take everything from the Town Clerk? SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: I think I am going to let Bill comment on that. TOWN ATTORNEY DUFFY: Yes. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: I think he is more of a facilitator than a decision maker. TOWN ATTORNEY DUFFY: Right. He is going to oversee the committee, make sure that the applications gets distributed and that everybody meets and makes recommendation to the Town Board. There is no approval authority in the chairperson of the committee, he just makes sure the committee meets and makes the recommendations to the Town Board. MS. SEPENOSKI: And what you just said, now rather than having a decision made that can be communicated directly to the applicant, it would now have to go to a resolution by the Board and if somebody in the audience objected, that could halt the decision right there and it would have to go to an appeal? Is that what you just described earlier, Mr. Dinizio? COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: That's right. MS. SEPENOSKI: So that's a drastic change. That's not an administrative, that's completely different... COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: It's not a hearing. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: No, it's not a hearing, that's not true, I am sorry. I am going to correct you on that, it is an administrative permit, there is, it is not a discretionary permit. The only time it would be if it didn't comply and we notified the applicant that they are missing certain documents, the objections were raised by the Chief, we needed traffic plans, things like that. But the resolutions are rote, we pass them all the time. MS. SEPENOSKI: Unless someone is allowed to speak... COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: Someone would have the opportunity.... SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Someone would have the opportunity to... MS. SEPENOSKI: So that is very different than the permit process.... COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: Yes, it is. Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 33 MS. SEPENOSKI: ....that's already in place that's considered administrative. This is a drastic change to what is being proposed. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: It's not. MS. SEPENOSKI: And then considering the additional uses and then having that falling into building department, planning which can be over-ridden by the building department. Zoning issues, all the things that it seems are now being more heavily, the ground work is being more heavily weighed than it had in the past and if you change your, if the town perceives a change in that intensity it has the ability to put more restrictions and ask for the traffic studies and the site plan review and completely hold up or stop that agricultural business and its potential model and success in this town. So this is not administrative. If you had had the one paragraph as was stated by someone else earlier, this might be but this is not administrative. This is actionable, it talks about enforcement, it talks about those people coming out for enforcement which is the Town Attorney directing that and at the close of the hearing that happened in March, one of the people in the Ag community directly asked Mr. Duffy a question concerning one of those things, he said I am sorry, I can't answer that question you would have to ask my boss. Scott, I believe as the Supervisor would be that boss, so are you directing the Town Attorney on.... TOWN ATTORNEY DUFFY: I don't recall ever saying that, I have issue with that. MS. SEPENOSKI: It was at close of.... TOWN ATTORNEY DUFFY: I did not say you had to talk to my boss... MS. SEPENOSKI: Okay. But you are directing enforcement. Is it just based on someone's anonymous call? That you would send someone out? TOWN ATTORNEY DUFFY: We take anonymous complaints, yes. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: The process for code enforcement in this is no different than any other aspect of the town code. So yes, anonymous complaints are accepted, we will go out and do fact finding on complaints, that's how the process works for everything. We didn't carve out a special exception for this and say well, we are going to treat it differently. No, it's going to be treated like any other aspect of the code. MS. SEPENOSKI: I respect that, I just want there to be a vetting that is an actual valid complaint and not just someone who is looking to cause a problem for that particular agricultural business person. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Or any business person. MS. SEPENOSKI: Or any business person for that matter because I have seen it and it happens and it's another reason why some of this community was in fear of what reprisals might come. Thank you. Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 34 STEVE MUDD: Steve Mudd, Southold. I served on Southold Town Agricultural Advisory Committee for over 15 years, there seems to have been a shift with this administration definition of who the representative is for the wine industry on Long Island. It's not anybody on that wine council, never was and I don't believe it is today. I am not in the winery business but I grow grapes for a living but I think some of the people in this room can agree with me that once again, we are here a ridiculous amount of time, even for you folks, because the communication could be better. Scott, let me finish please. You have made numerous times, more than once, you will have time to sit down when this goes to the code committee, never once has that happened and here we are again tonight, wasting a lot of time on our end and yours because we never had the opportunity to sit down to the code committee. So I want to be put on public record, Chris Baiz or anyone else that's on that Ag Advisory Committee does not represent the wine industry. And the sooner you folks realize that and reach out to these industry players, so they can have a chance to sit down and have (inaudible) at the table, which they have been told it's going to happen a couple of times, it hasn't happened. Thank you. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Who else would like to address the Town Board? Would anybody else like to address the Town Board on this particular local law? (No response) I want to address one thing, with regard to Louisa Evans comment, I never referred to myself as anti- winery... COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: Louisa Hargrave. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Oh, what did I say? Okay, I am sorry, Louisa Hargrave. I have never referred to myself as anti-winery, what I told her in the context of the discussion regarding allowing wineries on five acres, I know this is how this is going to go, you are going to propose, I am going to oppose, this is how some people in the industry have tried to paint me over the years as anti-winery, but I have got news for you, if you think the public is willing to accept wineries on five acres, or any five acres in town, then you are seriously out of touch with the community and there has to be a balance of interest there, if that makes me anti-winery or makes you think I am anti-winery, so be it. But I also have to say if you think some winery owners want to see wineries open on five acres, than you might be out of touch with them some of them as well. Because it's not like I don't have good communication with many of the winery owners, they want to call me anti-winery, talk to Alex Damianos, talk to Pindar, talk to a lot of people, talk to Frank, talk to Chris. I am not anti-winery. But this is the problem, as soon as I don't say yes to every little request, I am anti-winery. That's how it is presented. I never called myself that, what I said was you are going to call me that or certainly some members, not everybody, but some of the ag community, some who may or may not be winery owners. But I get that. Would anybody else like to address the Town Board before I close the hearing? I am going to close the hearing...I will look to the Board. COUNCILMAN RULAND: I am ready to close it. COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: I would make a motion that we continue the hearing, at least, we had it, we had a lawyer, an attorney that comes before this town for many, many years and she has comments that she would like to put on the record and I think we should afford her that. And quite honestly, I was on the ZBA for 25 years with Leslie and this is how I know to gather my Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 35 information, okay, it's not in a code committee, it's when everybody comes and they speak and its' on the record. It's not when somebody comes and reads a letter that says Scott is anti whatever from some obscure meeting that we don't really know happened. And I think I have had a meeting with a few people here and I keep telling you, you have to come, you have to come and tell us what you want because I am not a farmer. I have no idea how you need to make your living, I hear from the other side because that's where I am. I am from the residential side where I need to make sure those roads are passable on the weekend for fire apparatus and you know, all the other things, other people trying to use their own property. You know, a classic example, is the Lavender Farm. Very successful business. What if you are all successful? What do our weekend look like and how long does that last before nobody comes out here because, you know, the traffic is horrendous. So, you know, we look at it that way, can we have a guy having a wedding every weekend or two nights a week a wedding because he needs to stay in his business. Well, what about the people live in the periphery? You know, we can't call them whiners, okay? They are here, they are trying to live. They bought next to a farm, they had certain expectations. One of those expectations was, if that farmer has to get up and spray at 6:00 in the morning, he is going to get up and spray at 6:00 in the morning because he has the right to do so, okay. And he is going to work until sundown pretty much, that tractor is going to keep going and the dust is going to fly but it doesn't include a band, it doesn't include music until 11:00 at night, okay? That's special and we need to someway find a way to control that. I don't know how to do it and I am certainly willing to have a discussion but this is where you have to have it. Okay? If you see that the law is coming out,jot something down, write it down, email us, whatever you have got to do. I read all my emails, I try to respond to them. Okay? Not because I think you need to know, I should say, you need to know what I am thinking and I will tell you what I am thinking before this meeting because you need to know that because that's the only way you can have a discussion. And somewhere along the line we are going to need to compromise on this, on how you guys can make a living, you know, the whole five acres thing, they are going to get different goodies than the people who have 10 acres, maybe a super winery, we have to figure out what that is, okay? But we can't have a guy, an expectation, you know a two acre lot in a subdivision considering themselves a farmer and they can have special events and it happens to be a wedding. Ladies and gentlemen, we have that going on in this town right now. Empty lots on the bay, okay, calling themselves wedding venues. They are not even farmers anymore. We are all trying to deal with that and part of that is increasing the amount of code enforcement we have and you know, it's not how the code enforcement reacts, he has a certain way that he has to do it. It's not picking on anybody and pretty much now,just picking and choosing from the wide amount of complaints that we have. So there, come, comment, this is the way I learn, it's the only way I can learn. Even sitting down with you know, four or five of you in a meeting doesn't help me as much as it does when I know that you are sitting there and I know that I can go back 10 years from now and read what you said and the public deserves that, too. I would like to hold this meeting over, at least another two weeks, a month whatever it is so we can get some comments. And I would encourage you, especially your comments about, if you can write that down. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Can I take that as a motion, Jim? To table? COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: I want... Amendments to Ch 205, Public Entertainment and Special Events Public Hearing July 3, 2018 page 36 SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Let me see if he gets a second. He has a motion to table? Does he have a second? (No response) Okay. COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: I think, I agree with a lot of what Jim is saying but I feel, I agree with basically go back to what Leslie said at the beginning of the meeting, that I think the Town Board needs to handle this on a daily basis, that's the way I am going to learn from this process. I have learned from talking to you, I have learned from talking to Leslie and what we see but I think if we make this change now, we start working this process and we all have agreed from the beginning that we need to sit down and overhaul this whole code. And the best way that we are going to learn is if we do it ourselves, the process, and we see what works and what doesn't work. We need to, I think this is a step forward, it's going to be a long process. There's a lot that needs to be changed. A lot of good comments were made tonight that I would like to have further discussion on and I think if we move ahead with this, we can keep moving with it. This hearing was closed at 10:05 PM Eli eth A.Neville Southold Town Clerk