Town of Huntington May Meeting

The Huntington Town Board held its May 20, 2020 meeting remotely and broadcast meeting audio live, approving various measures to accelerate Huntington’s local economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, designated Bread and Cheese Hollow Road as an historic landmark, approving a farmers market, and scheduled public hearings for the June 16 and July 21 Town Board meetings.

COVID-19 RESPONSE & ECONOMIC RECOVERY

“We have had a continuous dialogue with local business leaders and small business owners on how to safely reopen business in the Town of Huntington within the New York State guidelines and we have now formalized that collaboration with the establishment of the Huntington Small Business Economic Recovery Task Force, which will ensure the small business perspective is well-represented and all ideas are vetted by the small business engine of our community,” stated Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci, who sponsored the resolution to create the Task Force.

The Town Board took action to accelerate our local economic recovery and seasonal summer reopening plan:

• Established a Huntington Small Business Economic Recovery Task Force, comprised of local business leaders, to promote collaboration between Town government and small businesses to develop ideas that will help accelerate the local economic recovery, consisting of five members (one member appointed by each member of the Town Board); two members of the Town of Huntington Economic Development Corporation (the Executive Director and one additional member); one representative each from the Huntington, East Northport, Melville, and Northport Chambers of Commerce; and one representative each from the Huntington, Cold Spring Harbor, and Huntington Station Business Improvement Districts, for a total of 14 members, who will vote to elect a Task Force Chairperson.
• Extended construction permits expiring from March 12, 2020 through July 31, 2020 for a period of six months from the original expiration date, except in cases where the Department of Engineering revokes a previously issued permit due to Building Code violations.
• Established guidelines for the opening and operations of the 2020 Town of Huntington Safe and Strategic Beach Opening Plan, consisting of a phased opening beginning on May 23, 2020; limiting capacity to 50% of the available parking spaces at each beach; in compliance with New York State’s Interim Guidance for Lake and Ocean Beach Activities during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, and to enforce the standards imposed by these guidelines; as well as limiting access to Town beaches to Town of Huntington residents only.
• Established a temporary parking permit system in the Huntington Village Business District, allowing small businesses previously designated as non-essential under New York State on PAUSE to reserve up to three metered parking spaces in front of their establishments to allow for curbside pick-up and delivery, to facilitate local economic recovery.
• Approved the acceptance of $510,015 in funding for Community Development Block Grant Funds under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities Act (Cares Act of 2020).
• Adopted CBA Advisory Committee recommendations for the allocation of emergency funds in support of certain community food programs in response to the Coronavirus Pandemic: $5,000 each to the SCPD 2nd Precinct, Helping Hands Rescue Mission, Friends of Huntington Station Latin Quarter.
• Established Financial Review Committee to evaluate the financial consequences of the Covid-19 Pandemic and formulate a plan for recovery, consisting of one representative each from the Supervisor’s Office and the Comptroller’s Office, and one member each to be appointed by the Councilmembers; the Committee would elect a Chairperson and develop a plan, including a report and recommendations to the Town Board on or before June 30, 2020.

   

  In other action, the Town Board:

• Designated Bread and Cheese Hollow Road in Fort Salonga as an historic landmark to preserve the rural character of the historic roadway corridor, serving as a guide to agencies reviewing plans for construction or signage along the road, with no effect on adjacent properties; the designation applies to the west side of the road, which sits within the Town of Huntington.
• Approved a license agreement with L.I. Farmers Markets, 703 Park Avenue, Huntington, for the 2020 harvest season in the Town of Huntington Elm Street municipal parking lot located in Huntington Village on Saturdays from 7:30 AM to 12:30 PM from June 13, 2020 through November 21, 2020 for a permit fee in the amount of $2,250.
• Approved the refinancing of outstanding bonds for a savings of $170,000.
• Extended the time to make a decision, by 90 days to September 15, 2020, regarding amendments to Chapters 120 and 137 of the Town Code, for which public hearings were held on March 10, 2020: Chapter 120 (Harbors and Waterways), Article I (Regulations and Restrictions) to add definitions, add as a basis of denial for a mooring permit that the placement of a mooring at the requested site would negatively impact marine organisms or underwater lands, and include the Town Attorney on notifications for revoked permits; Chapter 137 (Marine Conservation and Regulation of Marine Structures), Article I (General Provisions), Article VII (Emergency Maintenance; Storm Damage), and Article VIII (Administration and Enforcement) to include areas within 1,500 feet of the shorelines of the Incorporated Villages of the Town, while the Villages have jurisdiction over surface water activities within 1,500 feet of their shorelines, the Board of Trustees owns the underwater lands located within the same 1,500 feet, and mooring anchors rest upon Trustee underwater lands.
• Established a Town Hall and Town Facility Visitor Policy, by moving the Rules of Decorum at public meetings to a new section in the Town’s Policy and Procedure Manual, and memorializing existing practices (such as visitor screening, public meeting participation guidelines commonly referenced at our meetings) to ensure the safety of the public and employees and for the purposes of productive, efficient, and orderly public meetings.
• Approved an agreement with H2M architects + engineers for professional engineering services for Lakeside Drive retaining wall and slope stabilization, Centerport to restore normal traffic operation on Lakeside Drive, which is currently closed to through traffic.
• Approved an agreement with Storage Quarters Records Management for the provision of drive-thru shredding services for the public at the Senior Center parking lot on May 30, 2020.
• Accepted a donation of $4,350 from the Town of Huntington Cultural Affairs Institute with funds donated by People’s United Bank for the 2020 Movies on the Lawn Program.

   

PUBLIC HEARINGS

The Town is testing technology to be used for remotely-held public hearings, via call-in and/or video conferencing. Instructions on signing up to speak at the public hearings will be published on the Town website two weeks prior to the hearing date; if the Town determines the use of this technology is not feasible to conduct the public hearings, the scheduled public hearings will be postponed until the public can easily participate.

 The Town Board scheduled a public hearing for the Tuesday, June 16, 2020 Town Board meeting at 2:00 PM to consider:

• Amending the Code of the Town of Huntington, Chapter A202 (Subdivision and Site Plan Regulations); requiring traffic impact analysis; sewer and system capacity impact analysis in the Huntington Sewer District, including signoff by the Departments of Environmental Waste Management and the Department of Planning and Environment; compliance with the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan; requiring the Historic Preservation Commission to advise the Planning Board with architectural review for certain projects and any type of demolition; architectural guidelines to ensure a building’s design is consistent with its location; requiring the height and setback of the building to be similar to that of surrounding buildings and for design to complement existing neighborhood aesthetics. This public hearing will be held simultaneously with the public hearing on revised changes to C-6 Zoning regulating mixed-use development in the Huntington Village area and anywhere zoned C-6 in the Town, based on input gathered from the public during and after the October 16, 2019 public hearing: increasing the required parking to be provided on-site from 1 parking space per apartment to 1.5 spaces per studio or one-bedroom apartment plus 0.5 spaces per additional bedroom; eliminating the previously proposed Floor-Area Ratio (FAR) method of calculating density limits; creating a new density limit on new construction or projects expanding the footprint of existing buildings, by requiring the combined square footage of upper floors not exceed 150% of the first floor.

The Town Board scheduled public hearings for the Tuesday, July 21, 2020 Town Board meeting at 7:00 PM to consider:

• Amending the Uniform Traffic Code of the Town of Huntington, Chapter 2, Article IV, §2-7, Schedule G.  Re: Dickinson Avenue – East Northport – Stop Sign; to remove a stop sign for westbound traffic on Dickinson Avenue in East Northport at the intersection at Elwood Road, where a newly installed traffic signal exists.
• Amending the Code of the Town of Huntington, Chapter 87 (Building Construction),  Article VI (Administration and Enforcement); to eliminate imprisonment as a punishment option for less serious criminal offenses of the Town Building Code to relieve the onerous discovery burden placed on the Town Attorney’s office by 2019 changes to the New York State criminal discovery procedure, creating a punishment scale for Building Code violations commensurate with the seriousness of the offense charged; more serious Building Code violations would continue to be designated as misdemeanors carrying a possibility of imprisonment in addition to the imposition of a fine.