Town approves court parking plan
County likes it too
By Tim Gannon
The Town Board last Wednesday approved a proposed plan to provide 606 parking spaces for the county courts. The county also appears to have given its blessing and will proceed with renovations of the State Supreme Court building on Griffing Avenue, according to Supervisor Phil Cardinale.
The plan approved Wednesday includes 427 spaces in phase one, which already exist and only need to be designated as court parking, and 179 more to be created in phase two.
In August, the county had threatened to "close the Supreme Court and Annex building for the foreseeable future" if the town hadn't provided an adequate plan for court parking by Sept. 3, according to an Aug. 3 letter to the town from Chief Deputy County Executive Jim Morgo. The town was also required to show it had authorization to enter into long-term leases at non-town-owned sites identified in the plan and had provided all capital funding needed for the proposed additional parking.
The county Department of Public Works indicated in an e-mail to Mr. Cardinale on Monday that "based on the Town Board resolution, DPW plans to move ahead with the renovations at the Griffing Avenue courts."
Asked Tuesday by a reporter if the county has officially determined that the town's resolution on court parking is good enough, Mr. Morgo responded with a one-word e-mail: "Yes."
The Town Board in 1999 voted by resolution to provide 600 parking spaces for the new county courts. The resolution was seen as an incentive to get the county to build new courts in Riverhead instead of Central Islip. The county did build nine new court rooms at the site and now holds court in those courtrooms while it renovates the old court rooms. But that renovation was delayed two years by the discovery of water damage in the old building, officials said.
Current Town Board members had questioned the need for 600 new parking spaces, saying the 253-space parking lot the town built on Railroad Avenue is usually empty most of the day, except in the morning.
The Riverhead Business Alliance had also voiced opposition to the plan the town had proposed, saying it was taking parking spaces in the town parking district and designating them as court parking. The RBA said the owners of property in the parking district pay a special tax for those parking spaces.
Last Wednesday, Councilman John Dunleavy voted against the Town Board resolution for similar reasons.
"We're taking our taxpayers' parking away for a half a day in the Griffing Avenue parking lot," he said. "We shouldn't penalize our taxpayers."
The Town Board approved the resolution 4-1, with Mr. Dunleavy the sole opposition.
The list of designated court parking spaces created in phase one includes the 253 in the Railroad Avenue parking lot, 56 spaces at the corner of Third Street and Roanoke Avenue, 22 at Hallet Street, which the town will convey to the county in exchange for property on Osborn Avenue; 12 curbside spaces on the west side of Hallet Street; 14 spots on Railroad Street adjacent to Suffolk County National Bank; 18 spaces on Railroad Street between Osborn and Griffing avenues; 17 curbside spaces on the south side of Lincoln Street; 80 spaces in the parking lot between Griffing Avenue and West Main Street between 9 a.m. and noon; and 16 spaces in the parking lot between Griffing Avenue and Roanoke Avenue.
The resolution also designates that parking spaces created in phase two must be available by June 30, 2010. These include 25 spaces in the lot between Griffing and Roanoke avenues, which must be available between 9 a.m. and noon; 56 spots in a Third Street lot that must be leased from Suffolk County National Bank; 14 new curbside spots on the south side of Railroad Avenue; and 84 on Lincoln Street property behind the Peconic Baking Company. The latter two lots must be constructed by the town.
n Town buying office
The Town Board last Wednesday approved a resolution authorizing the purchase of the former Riverhead Building Supply building on 1295 Pulaski Street, subject to permissive referendum.
The price for the building is $2.5 million. Riverhead Building Supply had been using it as a headquarters and also as a millwork factory. The company is planning to move both those functions into a new facility under construction at Calverton Enterprise Park and has temporarily moved its headquarters to Shirley.
The town hopes to relocate its engineering, building and grounds and other departments to the facility. The town still would keep other offices in Town Hall.
Permissive referendum means the public has 30 days by which to collect a petition in opposition to the sale. The petition must be signed by at least five percent of the voters in the last gubernatorial election.
n Town may buy another office
The town is also considering buying a building at 209 East Avenue owned by architect Martin Sendlewski, to create more parking.
Mr. Sendlewski, who once used the building as his office, said he has a Febuary 2007 appraisal that valued the property at $500,000 but that he would be willing to sell it to the town for far less. He said he would sell it for $450,000, but he would donate $150,000 to the town, meaning the town would only pay $300,000. The donation has tax benefits, he said.
Mr. Sendlewski had received site plan approval to build a five-story apartment and office complex on that site several years ago. Last year he briefly submitted an amended plan for a 350-foot high apartment complex in the wake of the town's deciding to negotiate with Riverhead Resorts, which sought to build a 350-foot high indoor ski mountain at Calverton Enterprise Park.
Mr. Sendlewski later withdrew his plan. The approval for the five-story building is also close to expiring, and he does not have any more extensions available. Mr. Sendlewski had proposed to submit an amended site plan that would move the proposed building two feet and leave everything else the same, so the Town Board could quickly approve it.
That plan hit a snag when it was discovered that it must be submitted to the Suffolk County Planning Commission for a recommendation, Supervisor Phil Cardinale said.
The supervisor said he believes the town will buy Mr. Sendlewski's building for parking, because a multi-level parking garage would be very expensive. The house next to Mr. Sendlewski's building is also for sale, and Mr. Sendlewski has suggested the town buy a number of properties on the south side of Second Street to expand the town parking lot behind the former Woolworth building.
