COUNCILMAN WICKHAM:  NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, the Town Board has made a motion to amend the Zoning Map of the Town of Southold by changing the Zoning District designation of p/o SCTM# 1000-89-3-1.1 from Hamlet Business (HB) and Agricultural Conservation (AC) to R-80; and

NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN, the Local Law is entitled, “A LOCAL LAW TO AMEND THE ZONING MAP OF THE TOWN OF SOUTHOLD BY CHANGING THE ZONING DISTRICT DESIGNATION OF p/o SCTM # 1000-89-3-1.1 FROM HAMLET BUSINESS (HB) AND AGRICULTURAL CONSERVATION (AC) TO R-80”; AND

NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that pursuant to Section 265 of the Town Law and requirements of the Code of the Town of Southold, Suffolk County, New York, the Town Board of the Town of Southold will hold a public hearing on the aforesaid local law at the Southold Town Hall, 53095 Main Road, Southold, New York at 4:35 p.m., Tuesday, July 1, 2008.  The purpose of this Local Law is to change the Zoning District Designation of p/o SCTM# 1000-89-3-1.1 from Hamlet Business (HB) and Agricultural Conservation (AC) to R-80.  The petitioner for this request is the Town Board of the Town of Southold. The property is approximately 3.4 acres and is located on the site of the former General Wayne Inn, Cedar Beach Road, Southold, New York.

III.              SEVERABILITY

If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this Local Law shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the judgment shall not affect the validity of this law as a whole or any part thereof other than the part so decided to be unconstitutional or invalid.

IV.              EFFECTIVE DATE

This Local Law shall take effect immediately after filing with the Secretary of State as

provided by law.

ASSISTANT TOWN ATTORNEY CORCORAN:  Actually it is currently HB and AC.  It is being changed to R80.

COUNCILMAN WICKHAM:  I am sorry, that is right.  It is currently Hamlet Business and AC, the change would make that a change to R80.  I believe that this piece of property is where the General Wayne Inn stands and has for many years.  I have other notices here, a notice from the Suffolk County Planning Department, Department of Planning.  ‘Pursuant to the requirements of Chapter, section A1414 of the Suffolk County administrative code, this application which has been submitted to the Planning Commission is considered to be a matter of local determination as there is no apparent significant county wide or inter community impact.’  And I have a short environmental assessment for a list of actions filed and I have a recommendation here from Mark Terry, the principal planner and the LWRP coordinator dated June 30th.  ‘The proposed local law has been reviewed according to Chapter 268 and the LWRP policy standards.  Based upon the information provided, the recommendation: the policy is consistent with the policy standards and therefore is consistent with LWRP.’  I have another memo dated June 25th from the chair of the Southold Town Planning Board.  ‘The Planning Board has reviewed the proposed zone change and supports it. Please see the attached memo from the Planning Board dated February 6th which includes a brief history of the parcels zoning designations and our recommendations’ and it is like a three or four page letter.  I will just read very briefly at the end, the Planning Board recommendations at that time.  ‘The Planning Board recommends changing the zone of the entire parcel to R80 residential based on the following findings.  1.  The subject parcel is entirely surrounded by residential development and residential zoning.  2. The rezoning of this property is consistent with the zoning designation of the parcel surrounding on three sides.  3. The R80 zone designation will result in less intense and more compatible land uses than permitted in the current HB zoning district.’  I have a notice that it has appeared as a legal on the Town Clerk’s bulletin board and I have before me the copy from the Suffolk Times legals.  Those are the only comments that I find in the file. 

SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Okay.  I just want to clarify for everybody’s edification.  This is about a little over 3 acres where the historic General Wayne stands in Southold.  I had actually put that on the agenda several months ago to consider a change of zone.  Currently, where the facility is, where the General Wayne is, it is zoned hamlet business.  The property in the back is zoned AC.  Back in 1989, when that zoning map was adopted, I think there was an effort to match the zoning to the use at that time.  That building, where it still functional, might make sense to leave as HB to continue to allow someone to operate it, that building is beyond repair.  It is no longer functional and to leave a hamlet business zoning in the middle of a sea of residential and preserved area makes no more sense than a residential parcel in the middle of the hamlet of Southold right in the business section.  So, that is one of the little things that the Town Board needs to clean up from time to time.  Would anybody like to address the Town Board on the issue of the rezoning? 

MELANIE NORDEN:  Melanie Norden, Greenport.  Actually, I don’t know anything about the background of this.  This was something generated by the Town Board? 

SUPERVISOR RUSSELL:  I had put it on the agenda, I would say almost a year ago. 

MS. NORDEN:  Okay and does the current property owner have any intention of doing anything with the property? 

SUPERVISOR RUSSELL:  The property right now sits with the County of Suffolk.  They are the title holder.  It was taken as a consequence of a tax sale.  I don’t know if they will work with the previous owner to redeem the property but currently, under the tax roll, Suffolk County is the owner of record. 

MS. NORDEN:  Okay.  Since it is sited in a rather environmentally sensitive area, sort of in front of Cedar beach, I believe, have you considered preserving it?  Purchasing it? 

SUPERVISOR RUSSELL:  We certainly would, if that offer was made to the Town, we would certainly…

MS. NORDEN:  But you don’t have to have an offer.  You can go after it. 

SUPERVISOR RUSSELL:  No, you can’t.  Not when the county owns it, under a redemption period.  Everything would need to be done through resolution for the county of Suffolk. 

MS. NORDEN:  Can you do that though?  I mean, would you consider doing that? 

SUPERVISOR RUSSELL:  It would depend on their redemption agreement with the previous owner.  In other words, I don’t know how long they have given him to redeem taxes but we are aware of it.  I have already talked to the county about, I already talked to our representative from the county parks about it, to make it park land.  There was actually, someone had come out to me from the county about a year or so ago.  I had proposed the idea of putting affordable housing there.  I didn’t speak to the Board about it but I told the person at the time that is not a use that would be consistent with our issues  or with our planning goals, which is the halo’s and that is so far outside the halo that affordable housing in that site probably wouldn’t work but certainly as a park they know we are certainly interested in that. 

MS. NORDEN:  And have you spoken to Melissa and the Town Preservation Department? 

SUPERVISOR RUSSELL:  No need to yet.  We wouldn’t buy it from the county, they would offer it to us for use as a park. 

MS. NORDEN:  So basically what happens is there is a redemption period and then the property is up for sale essentially? 

SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: It is up to the county and how they want to dispose of it.  You know, everything is a county decision. 

MS. NORDEN:  But could you notify the county that we are interested? 

SUPERVISOR RUSSELL:  I already have. 

MS. NORDEN:  Okay.  Good.  Thank you. 

SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Okay.  Would anybody like to address this issue?  (No response) Okay, can I get a motion to close?