Update 9/3 9 p.m.:
After Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard announced Tuesday afternoon that the town is removing recommendations for “agritourism resorts” from its Comprehensive Plan Update slated to be adopted Sept. 4, Riverhead civic associations have canceled their news conference at Riverhead Town Hall at 1 p.m. Sept. 4, at which they were scheduled to be joined by regional environmental organizations and the Southold Town Supervisor to challenge the Riverhead Town Board’s vote.
“Following strong community opposition to include agritourism inns and resorts in the Comprehensive Plan Update, the Town Board has decided to remove these provisions. We are glad about their decision and have decided to cancel the press conference,” said Laura Jens-Smith, president of the Greater Jamesport Civic Association and former Riverhead Town Supervisor.
“We are grateful to our community members and neighboring townships for their support in speaking out in opposition to these commercial resorts which would have been built along the fragile Long Island Sound bluffs,” she added. “The Town Board received thousands of petition signatures, countless letters and standing room only crowds at meetings promoting these resorts. At the eleventh hour, with a pending press conference prior to the vote, they have decided to remove the provisions. Much still remains in the Comprehensive Plan Update that threatens Riverhead’s community character, but for today we will be grateful for the residents of Riverhead, who have given of their time to make sure their voices were heard.”
Ms. Jens-Smith said the civic associations will be reviewing the Comprehensive Plan Update draft thoroughly to ensure that the town removes all recommendations related to agritourism resort zoning.
Original Story Follows:
The Riverhead Town Board has removed a recommendation to consider zoning changes for agritourism resorts from its Comprehensive Plan Update, which the board is expected to vote to approve at its Sept. 4 meeting at 2 p.m.
Civic Association leaders throughout Riverhead have been urging the town board to remove the agritourism resorts recommendations from the Comprehensive Plan update, and have scheduled a press conference outside Riverhead Town Hall at 1 p.m. Sept. 4 to rally the public in opposition.
Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski and leaders from the environmental groups Group for the East End and DefendH2O, along with former Riverhead Town Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith are slated to speak at the press conference, according to organizers from the Greater Jamesport Civic Association, the Heart of Riverhead Civic Association and the Greater Calverton Civic Association.
The Greater Jamesport Civic Association, which has been leading the effort, has gathered more than 2,500 signatures on a petition opposing commercial hotel development on Sound Avenue.
“After careful consideration of the proposed Comprehensive Plan Update, specifically the language related to Agritourism Inns & Resorts, the Town Board, by majority, has determined that those provisions should be removed from the Comprehensive Plan Update,” according to a press release from Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard’s office late Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 3. “Supervisor Hubbard and the Town Board are committed to land preservation that upholds the integrity of Riverhead’s rich agricultural heritage and soils and will continue its commitment to Land Preservation efforts.”
The Town Board had originally been slated to adopt the plan at a special meeting Aug. 21, but postponed the vote to Sept. 4 because a draft of the document that didn’t include all the changes since public hearings in May had not yet been posted on the town website.
The specific sections removed from the report are subsections headed “Agritourism Resort “on pages 99 and 207 of the Comprehensive Plan Update, and the text to be struck through is attached to the town’s press release.
More details on the comprehensive planning process are on a dedicated website.
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