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9/14/16 updates are highlighted like this sentence.
Map showing current zoning with parcels to be rezoned outlined in dark black.
(Click on map for a larger image or go to docs page for an even better image.)
To view documents mentioned below, click on the underlined red links. The document will open in Google Drive.
For better, faster viewing of a large file, click the link to open it in Google drive, download it (by clicking the file menu or the down arrow icon at the top) and then view it with your own software. Many large pdf's are bookmarked; they must be downloaded and saved on your device to see the bookmarks (if it can view bookmarks).
To see a folder of all the documents on this project, click here. Then you can select files to view, print, download and/or save.
The Town is proposing the rezoning, generally to a less intense use, of 1436 parcels in the Greater Moriches area, which extends from the west side of the Forge River to Seatuck Creek in Eastport and from Moriches Bay to just north of the Sunrise Highway. Most of the parcels included are in the business districts and along waterways.
This rezoning study has been underway for more than 1½ years. This effort built on recommendations for our area in prior land use studies—recommendations which were never acted on! The current Plan lists the following:
First Announced.
This study was first publicly reported by the Tide in February 2015. During the summer, the Town sent letters to owners of properties to be rezoned letting them know how their properties might be affected. Councilman Panico sent a letter to residents and ran an ad in the Tide in August describing his goals. In September he held a public meeting at the Center Moriches High School to discuss the plan. As the Tide reported, the meeting attracted a crowd. The Councilman followed up with letter to residents who attended the meeting. He wrote:
"We live in a beautiful area, rich with history and culture, and I will take whatever steps necessary, within my power, to safeguard the places that we call home. This comprehensive zoning analysis in the business corridors of the above mentioned hamlets are aimed at protecting our neighborhoods from overdevelopment and commercialization that is far too prevalent in communities to our west. The intent of this zoning study is not to diminish property values in anyway, but rather, to protect the unique character of out downtowns for future generations."
Preliminary steps.
In December 2015, the Town Board approved a Positive Declaration, finding that the proposed rezoning might result in significant adverse environmental impacts (as defined in SEQRA), and so it directed that a generic environmental impact statement be prepared. A draft of such a statement (DGEIS) has been prepared and is available along with the Plan itself, for public review and comment. (The links in this paragraph will take you to pdf's with the complete Plan and DGEIS with bookmarks added; the same documents are on the Town's website in pieces and not bookmarked.)
At the Town Board's work session on February 22, Planning presented information on the Plan (view the video). At the Board's meeting on February 25, by resolution, it accepted the Plan and the DGEIS for public review. The Moriches Tide reported on the status this March.
The South Shore Press followed up with coverage in April. It reported Councilman Panico's comments on public outreach:
"[T]he proposal has been publicly vetted where Panico says support from residents and business owners throughout the various hamlets involved has been 'understanding and exceedingly supportive' in favor of the concept to rezone. 'I think we’ve proceeded methodically to give the people a lot of information' Panico said. 'It’s been an open process where I’ve met with people in the communities and at town hall and we will continue to do that.' "
A few comments were submitted on the DGEIS, and responses to them were included in the Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement (FGEIS), which the Town Board accepted on May 12.
On June 9, a findings statement required by SEQRA was adopted by the Town Board. It also scheduled hearing on the Moriches and East Moriches rezonings for July 12 at 5 pm. As provided for in the scheduling resolutions, public notices of the hearings were posted on the Town's website; they were also to be mailed to affected property owners and published. As of this writing, they are available here (but will be removed later).
The hearings scheduled for East Moriches, however, were not entirely the same as those proposed in the Study. A number of lots along the Montauk Highway for which J Business was initially proposed are to be heard for a change to A Residence 1. Twenty-four lots on Atlantic Avenue, the south side of Maple Avenue and most of the by block of Montauk Avenue were proposed for A Residence 10; no hearing are scheduled for them so far.
Hearings July 12 - Moriches and East Moriches
All but one of the scheduled hearings were held on July 12 (the exception being hearing #8 adjourned to September 20). The proposed changes were adopted by the Board, except for 7 hearings which were closed but not decided--as reported by Newsday and News 12. Decision was held on these 7 changes to allow time for discussions between Councilman Panico and the owner or representative. Those discussions, we've heard, have taken place; however, there were no decisions on these proposed changes at the September 1 Town Board meeting. The next possible time for decision is the meeting on September 20, 2016.
Of the undecided proposals, 2 are in northern Moriches on the Forge River, 1 is at the intersection of the Montauk Highway and the Riverhead Road, 1 is on the Montauk Highway opposite Lufker Airport, and 3, involving 7 lots, are on the north side of the Montauk Highway from just west of North Paquatuck Avenue to just east of the Elementary School. These 3 are in an area of mixed zoning and use; they were all proposed for a change from all or part J2 to A1.
Here's the zoning on the Montauk Highway in much of East Moriches as already changed and as proposed. The lots with the pink circles around them are the proposed changed in this part of East Moriches on which no decision has been made so far:
Click here to view a larger copy.
On all maps on this page, black lines outline lots for which a change is proposed. Within the black outlines, green indicates A Residence 1 is proposed, orange indicates a change to J Business, and purple indicates that J Business 6 is proposed. Light red with diagonal lines is existing J Business 2 zoning. Yellow is not background; it is A Residence 1 zoning on the Town's base zoning map.
On August 11, 2016, the Town Board scheduled hearings for proposed changes for properties in Center Moriches and Eastport. They are scheduled for 5 pm on September 20, 2016. Notices have been published, and should have been sent to owners of affected properties at the addresses used for tax bills. The notices are also posted on the Town Clerk's webpage. The hearings will be in the order listed in the meeting's agenda.
There are changes from what was proposed in the Re-evaluation Study. Five scattered parcels in Center Moriches initially proposed for A-1 are now proposed for J Business.
The changes for Eastport are unchanged except that 1 lot on the Montauk Highway outside the business district is proposed for A-1 rather than Commercial Recreation. Now all 9 changes in Eastport are to A-1 or A-2.
Here's what zoning in Center Moriches and Eastport will look like if all the proposed changes are approved:
How split-zoned lots are treated.
An issue that came up during the July hearings likely will surface again on September 20. It pertains to split zoned lots, many of which have J-2 along the street and A-1 in back. Town Code § 85-136.A(7) says
"Where property is located in more than one zone, it must meet the most restrictive zoning classification affecting the parcel unless more than 75% of the parcel is located within the less restrictive district." (Emphasis added.)
For a typical J-2/A-1 split-zoned lot, this means that, if it is less than 75% J-2, it must be treated as 100% A-1. At the July hearings, a number of owners objected thinking that they had a right to some J-2 because their lots were split-zoned, but they learned they did not because of this section of the Town Code.
Are the proposed rezones generally right? Some principles help in assessing them.
Following these principles maintains and even improves the visual esthetic of our communities and also contributes to the value of our properties.
Here are the sorts of changes being proposed:
Well, there was a problem. While it is possible to painstakingly go through the information released by the Town and use information from other sources to analyze it, the Town provided no simple way to compare existing zoning and proposed zoning lot by lot and know where the lot is. Lots to be rezoned identified by tax numbers are listed, but the tax number does not tell you where the lot is without looking each lot up. Lots are also assigned a rezoning group code in what the Town has released, but in many cases specific lots in group multi-lot groups are not identified specifically on the maps provided.
We asked the Town for better maps, but did not get them. Apparently they would take staff too long to make. So EMPOA did its best to make them. Take a look are the maps we prepared initially but read the notes carefully about which changes are marked or not marked. For the most recent changes to the proposals, see the map above. To be really sure about the status of a specific parcel, please refer to documents released by the Town.