Town Board votes against car storage proposal on vacant land
A proposal to allow car dealers to store cars on vacant land zoned Industrial A in Riverhead Town was rejected by the Town Board majority last Wednesday in a 3-2 vote.
The proposal was devised after several dealers began storing surplus cars on land leased from other property owners, such as Riverhead Raceway and the Long Island Cauliflower Association’s Route 58 property.
Town officials at the time said there was no provision in the town zoning code to allow parking without a primary use.
This year, after working with car dealers, the Town Board developed a set of criteria that car dealers must meet in order to be allowed to store cars on Industrial A zoned land, which is mostly north of the Long Island Expressway and south of Manor Lane in Calverton.
Industrial C is located mostly south of Route 25 in Calverton and also covers part of Polish Town.
Council members Jim Wooten, Jodi Giglio and Tim Hubbard voted against the proposal in part because they feel Industrial C lands should have been included as well.
The 3-2 vote was technically on a proposal to declare the measure a “type 1 action,” which is likely to require an environmental impact study.
