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Application fees set to increase for Planning Board, ZBA

Riverhead Town is planning big increases in a number of Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals application fees.

The proposals will all be subject to public hearings during the April 16 Town Board meeting, which starts at 6 p.m.

Town building and planning administrator Jeff Murphree told Town Board members at last Thursday’s work session that he compared the fees that Riverhead currently charges to those charged in Southampton, Southold and Brookhaven towns for the same applications and found that, in most cases, Riverhead’s fees were much lower.

For instance, for site plan applications, Riverhead charges $500 plus 10 cents per square foot of altered area to a maximum of $30,000.

Southampton charges $1,100 if the area to be improved is less than 500 square feet. For areas between 500 and 1,000 square feet, the fee rises to $2,100, plus 25 cents per square foot. The maximum charge in Southampton is $15,000.

Southold charges $500 for the first acre, plus $500 for each additional acre or fraction thereof.

The proposal for the April 16 hearings calls for increasing ZBA use variance application fees on residential applications from $150 to $500, and adding a $300 fee for ZBA area variances and/or interpretations.

Structures of 100 square feet and less — including swimming pools of 100 square feet and less, with less than a three-foot depth — would be subject to a new $25 fee.

On commercial applications, the proposal increases the fee for use variances from $500 to $1,000.

Application fees for special permits would increase from $500 to $1,000 for applications of less than 4,000 square feet; and $2,000 for a building or disturbed area of more than 4,000 square feet.

Application fees for minor subdivisions would be $500 plus $200 per lot, up from a flat fee of $50. Major subdivisions would pay $500 plus $200 per lot, up from a single $250 fee.

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