Town ditches plan for outdoor storage of cars after hearing public feedback

A public hearing on a proposal to allow outdoor storage of cars at designated areas in Calverton was postponed after Tuesday’s Riverhead Town Board meeting got snowed out.

But board members say have they gotten enough public feedback against the proposal to not reschedule it.

There were eight letters in opposition to the measure and additional feedback from the public against it.

“I’d like to make a motion to not repost this public hearing,” said Councilman Tim Hubbard. “We’ve heard from a tremendous amount of people in the community, particularly in the area we were referring to.”

The proposal would have allowed new motor vehicle storage conducted in conjunction with car dealers that have established businesses within the Town of Riverhead.

The car storage lots are restricted to properties zoned Industrial A and are limited to the north side of Middle Country Road and Old Country Road, and east and south of Manor Road and the west side of Twomey Avenue in Calverton.

The Town Board was unanimous in their opposition to rescheduling the hearing, but not in their reasons for doing so.

Councilwoman Catherine Kent said she never liked the idea of allowing cars to park on farmland on Manor Road. Councilman Frank Beyrodt said he thought it was a good location because the farmland in this area was “marginal at best.”

He said he “understood the plight of the community around it” and that’s why he voted against the proposal. 

Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said the board will go back to the drawling board and come up with a new location to help car dealers, who are under pressure from manufacturers to except more cars on their lots. 

“The car dealerships in Riverhead are one of the biggest businesses,” she said.