[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Riverhead 9-5-2018 by L.L. No. 21-2018. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Zoning and land development — See Ch. 301.
This chapter will be known as the "Town of Riverhead Environmental
Quality Review Law."
The purpose of this chapter is to implement for the Town of
Riverhead the provisions of the State Environmental Quality Review
Act and the State Environmental Quality Review Regulations, thereby
incorporating environmental factors into the existing planning and
decision-making process.
This chapter is adopted under authority of the Municipal Home
Rule Law, the State Environmental Quality Review Act and the State
Environmental Quality Review Regulations.
A.
EAF
EIS
STATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY REVIEW ACT (SEQRA)
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Environmental assessment form.
Environmental impact statement.
Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law, which is
Chapter 43-B of the Consolidated Laws of the State of New York.
All agencies, boards, departments, offices, other bodies or
officers of the Town of Riverhead must comply with SEQRA, Part 617
and this chapter to the extent applicable prior to carrying out, approving
or funding any action, other than an exempt, excluded or Type II action.
A.
The lead agency is the agency (i.e., board, department, office, other
body or officer of the Town) principally responsible for carrying
out, funding or approving an action. The lead agency is responsible
for assessing the proposed action's determination of environmental
significance, coordinating review with involved agencies as may be
required, and whether an EIS is required for the action. The lead
agency is responsible for determining whether an EIS is required for
the action and for preparing and filing the EIS if it is required.
C.
The Planning Department will be the Town clearinghouse for lead agency
designation. It will assist agencies and applicants to identify other
federal, state and local agencies that may be involved in approving,
funding or carrying out Type I and unlisted actions. The clearinghouse
will make recommendations on the designation of lead agencies for
particular actions.
A.
When any agency, department, body, board or officer of the Town of
Riverhead contemplates directly carrying out, funding or approving
any Type I action, a full EAF must be prepared by it or on its behalf.
When an unlisted action is contemplated, either a full or short-form
EAF, as appropriate, must be prepared. The EAF forms given in Appendixes
A, B and C of Part 617 will be used as models, but may be modified
to meet the needs of particular cases. However, the final scope of
such a modified EAF must be at least as comprehensive as the scope
of the model forms.
B.
When any person submits an application for funding or a permit or
other approval of a Type I or unlisted action to any agency, department,
body, board or officer of the Town, an EAF must accompany the application.
For Type I actions, a full EAF must be prepared; for unlisted actions,
either the full EAF or the short form may be used, as determined appropriate
by the Department of Land Management. An applicant may choose to prepare
a draft EIS in place of an EAF.
C.
The lead agency must make a determination of environmental significance
of the action. This determination must be based on the EAF or, with
respect to unlisted actions, its own procedures, as the case may be,
and on such other information as it may require. The criteria stated
in Section 11 of Part 617[1] must also be considered by the lead agency in making its
determination of significance. The determination must be made within
20 days of its designation as lead agency or with 20 days of its receipt
of all information it requires, whichever is later.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 6 NYCRR 617.11.
D.
For Type I actions, the lead agency must give public notice and file
a determination of nonsignificance as provided in Subdivision 10(a)(3)
of Part 617.[2] For unlisted actions, the lead agency must send a determination
of nonsignificance to the applicant and maintain its own records thereof
in accordance with Section 6[3] and Subdivision 10(e) of Part 617.
E.
If the lead agency makes a determination of nonsignificance, the
direct action, approval or funding involved will be processed without
further regard to SEQRA, Part 617 or this chapter.
F.
The time of filing an application for approval or funding of an action
commences from the date the determination of environmental nonsignificance
is made. If the applicant prepared a draft EIS in lieu of an EAF,
the time of filing commences from the date the lead agency accepts
the draft EIS as adequate in scope and content and commences the public
comment period.
A.
If, based on review of the EAF and other information, the lead agency
determines that the proposed action may be environmentally significant,
then an EIS must be prepared.
B.
If an EIS is required, the lead agency must proceed as provided in
Sections 8, 9 and 10 of Part 617.[1] The draft EIS will normally be prepared by the applicant.
If the applicant fails to prepare a draft EIS or prepares a draft
EIS which is unacceptable to the lead agency, the lead agency may
either prepare a draft EIS itself, discontinue further processing
until the applicant can provide an acceptable draft EIS or deem the
application abandoned and discontinue review.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 6 NYCRR 617.8, 617.9 and 617.10.
C.
If an EIS is required, a public scoping hearing shall be held on
the draft EIS and, whenever possible, be concurrent with any other
hearing on the application.
A fee shall be charged for the review or preparation of the
draft EIS, and scoping shall be considered part of the draft EIS for
purposes of determining the fee. Such fees will be equal to the maximum
allowable under Section 13 of Part 617[1] of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. No agency
shall have the authority to waive or modify this fee.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 6 NYCRR 617.13.
B.
In addition, the following are deemed Type I actions:
(1)
Motel and hotel complexes of 20 units or greater.
(2)
New, or expansion of, sand, gravel or beach mining operations.
(3)
New, or expansion of, solid waste management facilities.
(4)
New wireless communication towers.
(5)
Parking facilities or other facilities with an associated parking
area where the total number of parking spaces is 50 spaces or greater.
[Amended 10-2-2019 by L.L. No. 20-2019]
(6)
Subdivisions of residential land within the Agricultural Protection
Zoning (APZ) District of 20 lots or more.
(7)
Within a critical area of environmental concern or within a critical area designated to protect cultural, historic, archaeological or educationally important resources under § 225-10B, no Type I action or unlisted action shall cause land to be cleared, regraded, filled, excavated or built upon until an archaeological examination of the site area has been conducted and submitted to the Planning Board for review. An application for a building permit for a one-family dwelling within an approved subdivision plat which has undergone archaeological examination is not a Type I action under this chapter.
(8)
Conversions to residential apartments, condominiums or cooperatives
of 20 units or more.
(9)
New residential apartments, condominiums or cooperatives of 20 units
or more.
(10)
Actions involving commercial or multifamily use within a Town
of Riverhead Historic District or located within 500 feet of a Town
of Riverhead Historic District boundary.
(11)
Commercial expansion of a preexisting, nonconforming use within
any zoning use district.
B.
In addition, the following are deemed Type II actions, provided that they do not fall within the critical areas as outlined in Town Code § 225-10, are not classified as Type I actions as set forth in § 225-11, and comply with 6 NYCRR 617.5 (b)(1) and (2):
This chapter shall take effect immediately upon filing in the
office of the Secretary of State in accordance with § 27
of the Municipal Home Rule Law. A copy of this chapter must be filed
with the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation.
