Full Transcript

Thank you. Thank you. And we'll get started with honoring our flag with the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand. Please stand. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. All right, we have to – who's making the first announcement? Are you? Please. Mr. Chairman, with your permission, we're going to go out of order. And the first matter I'm going to call is Appeal No. 2025-035, Brother Bear, Canada, 1458 Middle Road, Calverton, New York, Sub-County Tax Map No. 600-100-2-37, APZ Zoning District, Applicant Requests Variance and or Relief from Town, Town Code Chapter 301-37A2, where proposed wire deer fence height is 8 feet, maximum allowed is 6 feet, and Town Code Chapter 301-39, where proposed impervious surface coverage is 24.04%, maximum allowed is 15%. Mr. Chairman, we – Are there any questions for Mr. Sale? Are there any questions for Mr. Sale? Are there any questions for Mr. Sale? he has just handed Heather the affidavit of postings and proof of mailing that's correct okay I had a conversation with mr. Davis and the matter is going to be adjourned referred back to planning board for them to hear the application and at minimum provide the zoning Board of Appeals with a staff report we have taken the name of a representative I believe the complex that's proximate to this in addition Heather I'm going to hand you the name and phone number of an individual also for contact purposes mr. Davis has also received the contact information now I'll let you speak good evening chairman members of the board Larry Davis 175 Oak Street Patchogue New York for the applicant as Mr. Redenti and I as she has just indicated we are going to adjourn this matter for referral back to the Planning Board and based on what happens there we may come back we may not well we have and a November 13th meeting and then we have another meeting December 11th but that really depends on what it would be on for discussion with the Planning Board ok ok So we're going to tentatively schedule it for December, but we will communicate with yourself, community representative, if that date gets pushed back to January due to the planning board schedule. If it is on for the December 11th meeting, the zoning board agenda does get posted a week in advance, and anyone can call the planning department for information. Just for procedural purposes, do we have to remail, repost, or is this sufficient? Because it's an adjournment, do they have to repost and remail? No. No. Okay, terrific. We're noticing the adjourn date tonight. So the tentative adjourn date, December 11th, 2025, 6 p.m. Thank you very, very much. And to members of the public, the zoning board of appeals agenda is always posted online. So before that date, you could simply go online. To meetings, scroll down to zoning board, click it, and if a new date came up, it'll be posted right online. We're done. All right, it's been moved and seconded. Mr. Zawieski. Aye. Mr. Forshaw. Aye. Mr. Barnes. Aye, sir. Mr. Gazzella. Aye. And I vote aye. So it's been adjourned, and we'll look forward to you in December. Good luck. Thank you very much. Have a good evening, everyone. Good night, Mr. Davis. Thank you. See you in five minutes. All right. Other? So do you want to go back to the first matter? Okay. No, let's go to the last one. Okay. Good job. So appeal number 2025-028, 505 Lincoln Street Opportunity Zone Fund, LLC, 505 Lincoln Street, Riverhead, and 214 Marcy Avenue, Riverhead. I did receive correspondence today from the applicant's attorney, Kim Judd, and I forwarded it to our counsel and board. They are requesting an adjournment to November 13th. So moved. Second. Second? Somebody? Second. All right. Mr. Zaleski. Aye. Mr. Forshaw. Aye. Mr. Barnes. Aye. Mr. Gazzella. Aye. And I vote aye. So that matter has been adjourned until November 13th. Okay. Okay.

I don't know if you want to... So the final appeal of the night, appeal number 2025-032, Bayview at Peconic, LLC, 47 Bayside Avenue, Jamesport, Suffolk County tax map number 600-93-1-4, residence B40 zoning, appeal of chief building inspector's determination dated July 29th, 2025, which rescinded a letter of pre-existing use issued October 13th, 2022 for use as transient rental. And I can confirm. I did receive the affidavit of mailing and posting and the certified receipts. Okay. Please state your name and address. Thank you. Patricia Moore on behalf of the Bayview at Peconic, LLC. I have with me this evening Madison Messina, who some of you know. She's my assistant paralegal. And I have Mr. Joe Fisero who is the managing member of the LLC with his two of three sons, Alex Fisero and Joseph Fisero. They're all going to be helping us today gather up all the information that we submit today to you. This is primarily a document case. And we say this because it is in our opinion. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. It's a document case. issued back in 2022. There is ample proof that the building inspector at the time did a thorough job. He inspected the property. He took statements that he requested, notarized statements, and looked at the property and did his due diligence before issuing the letter of pre-existing use. We will give you very detailed communications that evidence what he did prior to issuance of the letter of pre-existing use and what has happened since, which we believe was the letter was wrongfully revoked, and we'll give you plenty of information and evidence on that. So, if I may, just for clarification purposes. When you're speaking about the letter of pre-existing use, it's not the letter of pre-existing use for the single-family dwelling. It's the letter of pre-existing use permitting use of the single-family dwelling as a transient rental. Precisely, yes. Thank you. Yes, there were two letters of pre-existing use that we provided to the board. One was issued, I believe, May of 2022. That was for the structure for the single-family dwelling. And the other was issued in May of 2022. And the other was issued in May of 2022. And the other was issued in May of 2022. And the other was issued in May of 2022. And then later in October 13, 2022, the letter of pre-existing use for the transient rental use. And that's the document. That's the determination that was revoked in 2025. And that is what we are here to appeal and hopefully persuade you that that was one either, improper or, well, certainly improper, but not warranted in the valid pre-existing use letter. So the first thing we're going to do is show you that the letter of pre-existing use issued by the building inspector in 2022 was correct, issued after consultation with the town attorney, the investigator for the town attorney, Richard Downs, and the planning and zoning administrator, and at the time was Mr. Jeffrey, Jefferson, excuse me, Murph, Murphree. Always took me an effort to get his name correctly. They all agreed that the letter of pre-existing use for transient rental was established. They also agreed that the letter of pre-existing use eliminated the requirement to obtain a rental permit. The second issue that we're going to show, is that the letter of pre-existing use was issued properly by the building inspector on October 13th, 22 and should not have been rescinded on July 29th, 25. This residential property was rented by the family from 1962 till today. The transient rental use was started prior to the adoption of the zoning ordinance of the town of Riverhead, which according to the pre-COs and your own knowledge of when zoning was in place, adopted, was adopted in September of 1970. And certainly the use was started also prior to the specific prohibition of short-term rental, which was adopted October 16th, 2013. So there are multiple points where the use was pre-existing to any code change. Third, we will show that the use of the land was not pre-existing. So the use was pre-existing to any code change. Fourth, we will show that the letter rescinded, that the letter that rescinded the letter of pre-existing use on June 29th, 2025 was unlawful, was wrong. Andreas of Eglise was pressured and directed by the new planning and zoning administrator to rescind the letter of pre-existing use. That's a big obligation on our part. I think we have a ton of information. Lots of information, empirical evidence that will show all those things. As to the first point, the letter of pre-existing use that was issued by the building inspector of use of transient rental, let me be specific, in 2022 was correct. And we point to, and at this point, Mr. Fisara is going to provide a lot of factual because it's, It's got really be, it has to be testimonial information. And we have the packets that we, I think we have enough for everybody. Okay, if you have an extra, we'll take it back. So these packets include Mr. Passaro, what he's going to present to you tonight. And some of the exhibits that I'll refer to here are incorporated rather than give you everything twice. I'm just gonna refer to the exhibit that is in the packet. So the first, let's call it the big smoking gun, okay,

where this issue was addressed. In 2022, there was a notice of violation

issued for not having a rental permit. And at that time, Mr. Passaro reached out immediately to the building inspector and he began his dialogue with the building inspector. We are providing what ultimately is the certificate of disposition. And for those of you who don't typically know, don't typically hang out or have criminal charges and summonses that you've dealt with, a certificate of disposition is at the end of a court process or court matter, the justice court in this case, will issue a determination, an actual certified court document that shows that the matter, the charges that were brought for failing to have a rental, the legal permit, the disposition was that the matter was dismissed. And the reason that the matter was dismissed is that at that point, oh, I'm so sorry, thank you. Madison is here for that reason. Exhibit I, I apologize, I should have said that first. So the certificate of disposition is exhibit I in your packet. That is what I've given to you is the actual certificate that was provided by the court recently. We investigated, we said, where did this come from? Why did we suddenly have this issue come up? And quite frankly, my client did not remember because my original application to you had nothing about the 2002 matter that was investigated and resulted in the letter of preexisting use. So we followed up with the court and lo and behold, that's where it was. So it was a significant event. However, it was resolved with cooperatively and with all the paperwork that was required by the building inspector at the time. And it was resolved with the court and the court's approval of the matter. And we followed up with the court. And we also had a meeting with the building inspector at the time. The building inspector and what I did is attach to this certificate the communications that occurred and there are several emails. It all tracks several pages between exhibit I and exhibit J. You'll see several pages. And it's the communications that went back and forth between the building inspector, his meeting, his meetings with the town attorney, the prosecutor, thank you, and the Mr. Downs,

who is the investigator, and Mr. Murphy, and everybody that had to be involved with respect to the review of the preexisting use certificate. Ultimately, it was determined administratively and then ultimately by the building inspector that a letter of preexisting use would be the appropriate mechanism to come to a conclusion, a determination that the transient rental use was permitted. It was a preexisting use that had been proven. And there was no need for a rental permit under the provisions of a preexisting use. So at that point, he thought everything had been resolved

in 2022, didn't hear anything more. The town had not approached him with any other issues. And then at the last, just recently, is when the, the building inspector reached out to my client with the response to complaints that they were receiving and the efforts to revoke the preexisting use. And I won't get into the details there because that is all in Mr. Fisaro's affidavit and with the exhibits there. So I don't wanna take the wind out of my client's sail because it is all in that, in the affidavit. So ultimately the issue, as I said, was resolved.

My client has also, among the documents that he has gathered to prove the existence of the pre, the preexisting use has a letter from his accountant that says, oh, this is a letter from my client. So I am here to tell you that I am in a position to be a good accountant, as well as the tax returns that have been available to him since 2008. And unfortunately, yeah. I'm not here to vindicate the rules of evidence, but all of these documents. Yes. Can you tell me how they're admissible? Sure, of course. I have them here. You have the business, not just having them. It's not enough. No, no, no. So let me now turn to Mr. Fisaro because he has the affidavit. We have the, we have the affidavits by all, by neighbors. We have all the documentation that will. I'm aware of that. But what I'm saying is, you know, there's certain things that, if I like what I wrote, the business records rule, could we comply with, will we be complying with that? Well, let me tell you that a zoning board of appeals generally does not, it takes hearsay. I'm asking you a question. Yeah. Just like the answer. Is the answer no, you don't have it? No, we have, we have all the information that you need. Let's move on. Okay. All right. So they want to get to the point. So let me have Mr. Fisaro come up and start going through the documents. And let me gather up, want the tax return, Doug? Where is that, the paperwork? Oh, it's plugged out. I don't think so. Can you reach to us? I'm on your side. Oh, that's my side. Okay. This is for the board. Okay. We're trying to get you the paperwork. Right. Okay. We'll do it then. All right. Yeah. Oh, yeah, thank you. I'll let you take it. Okay. See you, Jeff. Who wants this big pile of paper? There you go. Is this just one of each? No, no, it fits. How many copies? Is it all, how many copies? No, there are eight sets. Six. Sorry, six sets. No, that's perfect. Okay. Six in 2008. So go ahead and you're going to now start. Okay. My turn? Your turn. Oh, I'll take that. Thank you. I don't think so. I don't know. Are you an attorney? Are you an attorney? No. Okay. We'll have to swear you in. No, no, no. Respect for attorneys. He's going to swear you in. He's going to swear you in. I do solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and not the bunch of truths to help you God. Yes, I do. Please state your name and address, please. Joseph Fisaro, 14 Green Hill Lane, Huntington, New York. I'm just going to hand everything out by year. So they have a record. You have everything in order. Thank you. Thank you. I apologize. Mr. Fisaro. If anyone here is on the count. can a matter appeal number two oh two five oh three five that matters been adjourned if you want to leave your contact information to be noticed of the next state you'll have paper otherwise

sorry just one moment I'm sure

oh well that glad rough can you pass this down oh thank you

machines were sure smoking

thank you thank you

There you go.

Thank you. Almost there. Thank you, light trees. That's why I do everything digitally. They did provide additional copies. Oh good. What the hell did you give me this for? You gave me the disc. Thank you. Verona.

It's always Michael. Wow.

Alright, let's start looking at these. I appreciate it. 8-8-2-5

Alright, this is the last one. 23. They didn't start in 1960.

We do have a member video conferencing. I'll make sure that he gets the digital. That's fine. Thank you.

Before Mr. Fasaro begins that you have the tax returns in front of you, can you advise the Board where those returns come from and are those true and accurate returns that were filed with the IRS? They all have come from a certified public accountant dating back to 2008 to 2024. Obviously 2025 has not been filed yet. So we're going to keep that in mind. And so if you don't want to take the time to read them, rest assured they came from a certified public account. Although that reading might be good at night if you haven't signed yet. Oh yeah. And can you explain the older records, their availability? There is no availability of the older records. Unfortunately, the CPA we had back then passed away, Mr. Cantor and Mr. Levenberg from Greenlaw, New York.

Are you ready for him to start? I'm ready to listen, that's for sure. Okay, go ahead. So Mr. Chairman, members of the board, thank you for your time this evening and have a good evening to you. I did want to make one note before I go into my swarm. This will be sworn as well. Ms. Moore noted that we got our LNEU in 2022

and in 2025 an issue arose. Ms. Moore noted that between those times, 2022 and 2025, we had no issue with the town or anyone else for that matter. I just want to go on record as saying that my father, who bought the house in 1962, to the present time, I don't believe we've ever had an issue that we haven't resolved amicably with a neighbor. And when I say that we haven't resolved amicably, I think I can count on one hand the little... Is it one particular neighbor that you have difficulty with, or is it a group of neighbors? No. We are friends, very friendly, and we try to be friends, and good neighbors to everyone in our community. It's a fairly tightly knit Board of Uterus Civic Association. I'm sure you're probably all aware of. And, in fact, the four neighbors that the board, has to, by law, send out notices to, I called each of them. I said, you know, letting them know what was going on, do you have any questions? Two of them, in response, sent us letters of support, which are part of what we're submitting. One of them I was able just to speak with today, and she said to me, Joe, you have our support, you know we have no problems. She's actually the one. She described it, Joe, you and I have had our bumps in the road from time to time, but, you know, we're all good. And she said, the best of luck. We're not coming. We have no problem with you. We know that you do the right thing, and whenever there is an issue, we work it out. So, to reiterate, since 1962, when my father bought the house, I never have had any issues with the town. Very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very few, if any, of significance with our neighbors. So, Mr. Barnes, to your point, as I read through, you'll hear about what probably precipitated all of this. Okay. And I also wanted to say, just as a little bit of background, since 1962, when my father bought the house, I remember him bringing myself and my siblings strawberry picking, back when they had the, you know, you pick. I think it was more like my father would eat, and whatever he didn't eat, we'd bring up and pay for, and then he'd bring us, I just, these things come to your mind. He'd bring us down the road to Grant's, the Bradford house. I don't know if anyone remembers that, but. I do. He liked it because it was all you could eat. So, I, Joseph Asaro, being Doreen, I was the first person to come in. I was the first person to come in. I was the first person to come in. I am duly sworn to pose and state as follows. I am a member of Bayview Peconic LLC, the owner of the premises located at 47 Bayside Avenue, Jamesport, town of Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York, designated as Suffolk County tax map number 600-93-1-4. Our property was used when it was purchased by my father and mother, Joseph Asaro and Anna S. Asaro, for the purposes of renting the house as a short-term and transient rental to guests for stays of less than 30 days. You will find that in 1962 deed exhibit A. After my father died, I was a little girl. I was a little girl. I was a little girl. The property was transferred on April 9th, 1981 from my mother to her three children, myself being one of them and my two youngest siblings, Ann Fasaro and Mary Fasaro. That's 1981 deed exhibit B. On November 23rd, 2006, we transferred the property to Bayview at Peconic LLC. A correction deed was filed. February 24th, 2014 to correct the 1981 deed. The correction deed does not change the effective date of the original document, which is 1981, C, 2016 and 2014, correction deed exhibit C. At the time such transient rental use commenced, the Riverhead Town Code did not prohibit or restrict the use of the property. Sale helt. Sale helt. Sale helt. Sale helt. Sale helt. Sale helt. Sale helt. Sale helt. Sale helt. Sale helt. Sale helt. Sale helt. Sale helt. So another quick aside that was drilled into our heads as we were growing up, work hard, make money, and then have your money make money for you. So my dad would buy things, he would buy real estate or other investments, not just for pleasure. There was no certificate of occupancy for the house until I obtained a certificate of pre-existing use for the existing house. The certificate of pre-existing use is dated May 17th, 2019. The house is described as one story, wood frame, single family dwelling with wood framed detached garage, five bedrooms, one and a half bath, finished hallways in basement, which lead to a toilet room, shower room, and washer dryer. The house is currently under construction. The house is currently under construction. The house is currently under construction. The remainder of the house is unfinished. The house remains the same today. I was informed by my attorney that the town board had a rental permit on the books since 1996. I think that should say a rental permit code, a code for a rental permit on the books since 1996, but also adopted local law 34 of 2006 requiring rental permits. These ordinances which required rental permit licenses did not change the preexisting use. My attorney provided the case of Rubin vs. Wallace 1963 AD 2D 404 New York State 2nd 733

205 AD, 2nd, 629, 2nd Department, 1994, if I'm reading it correctly. In any event, it's all in Exhibit D. When my parents purchased our property in July of 1962, they began renting the house that same summer it was purchased, and there was no requirement to obtain a rental permit. I have been informed by my attorney that 51 years after my family purchased and rented the house, the town board subsequently amended the rental permit law and adopted Local Law No. 17 of 2013, which prohibited or restricted short-term rentals. Our short-term rental used provisionally. Prohibition also predates this local law. I have attached documentary evidence, including affidavits, affidavits by former short-term tenants who have rented from us since 1962 and neighbors who have personal knowledge that the house was rented since 1962.

I have attached a list of the affidavits and two letters of the immediate neighbors. Some affidavits also include pictures, and those are in Exhibit E.

I have attached summaries of my booking records, spreadsheet Exhibit F, and the accountant's letter and tax filing since 2007. I have attached summaries of my bookings, and two letters of the immediate neighbors. I have attached summaries of my bookings, and two letters of the immediate neighbors. I also have uses for身 đi身 đi records. which we referred to a few minutes ago

also as noted a few minutes ago our former accountant passed away so we do not have access to those records prior to 2008. also included is an affidavit from a local cleaning company that we have used since 2009 and you can see dawn heard's affidavit and exhibit h taking all the documents together confirms the property was rented to transient occupants before zoning and before the transient rental law of 2013. based on the foregone totality of the proof of all this proof i respectfully request that this board reinstate our letter of pre-existing use

mr fissar may i ask a few questions i notice your exhibit first do you have copies of any filed tax returns details tax returns that you provided are copies of prepared tax returns but nothing evident seeing that those were actually filed

next question exhibit g was prepared by the cpa firm cohen hoganman and baldonado and it states they prepared the returns it doesn't state they ever filed the returns and i'm curious because it is a interesting last name there also appears to be submitted under exhibit f an affidavit of a a a a a a a ! it's a it's a home okay you have copies any of the leases we do have copies of releases not with him there's no need you have copies of any canceled checks we might have some canceled checks you know we have bank actually we do we have bank reconciliations which should happen we have bank statements and you have copies of leases yes use license agreements okay you have those okay and do you have those continuously so I went through a lot of the records you submitted in exhibit e several of them are from members of your family which have an interest in the LLC correct that is incorrect okay so there's only three of us that have an interest in the LLC actually there's only two of us out of the six so the ones that you're looking at my older brothers Mario and Al they had other properties okay so my father and mother left this property to me and my two younger sisters and their names are sisters and in Mary and Fisaro was Mary Fisaro it's now Mary Romualdo so Mario Fisaro is whom my oldest brother okay so Mario's affidavit outlines without proof just outlines rentals of families going from 1960 according to what he wrote 1964 through to 1975 with gaps between certain years in other words there are no he didn't list any rentals between 1966 and 72 and the last reference he makes is 1975 not to the present age okay right if you're asking me the reasoning behind that we were asked we did this back in 2022 we were asked again we were told part of this issue is we were told that these were just testimonials and they weren't in affidavit form although the original testimonials that we did in 2022 were notarized we were told that these needed to go into affidavit form so I had to go back to everybody who had done them three years ago and asked them to redo them so that's what you have there let me go on further to explain that my older brother Mario for the most part and my older brother Al secondarily really administered administered the help my father administered the property in the 60s and 70s my father died in 72. so my two older brothers maintained and continued to do that mostly my older brother Mario I got involved because it's a it's a family business I got involved a few years after my father passed away and it's slowly transitioned to myself and my family I have two of my sons here my oldest Alex and my youngest my oldest Joey sorry my youngest Alex and uh my middle son would love to have been here but he's lives in Manhattan and they're expecting a baby any day so congratulations thank you thank you um so so do you proof of any leases any licenses at all yes yes yes so and what we tried to do rather than keep you know we didn't want to overwhelm you with lots of paper we tried to consolidate the paper and create what would be outlines and having it be a sworn testimony that has certain credibility that it is that he's he's making these statements and um swearing to the truth of it under penalty of perjury so if you want him to go back and pull out we can we we can do that what we tried to do if you see on exhibit F uh there they spent hours compiling from all of their records the receipts and the leases and so on all of the different uh tenants over the years in an outline form with the number of days that they each stayed uh again this is sworn testimony but we it he brought his box so if you were boxes boxes So if you wanted to see something as proof, pick one. We pull it, and we can give it to you. But if you'd like him to provide you, after this hearing, with what leases he has of record, of course we would provide that, because it all was compiled in a more simplified, easy way of reading it. What's very significant, under the code of the town of Riverhead, I don't know whether you're going to correct me if I'm wrong, section 301-222, subsection 3, 4C,

a pre-existing non-conforming use shall be extinguished if there's proof of a period of a year of non-use. So a lot of the documents that you've submitted, and a lot of these affidavit of statements, number one, there are gaps. So in Mario's statement, wait, let me just finish. He ends off in 1975, and even the dates that he does cover, there's a gap for years in the 60s. In addition, just for an example, the affidavit of Friedman, it goes from 1980 to 1993, again, leaving that a gap. But I would strenuously disagree with the analysis, because we may not have one individual, and at this point they may be in the 80s or 90s, or passed away. What we've had to do, and we truly went back to make sure there was no disconnection, is that we had a discontinuance of that one year, and that's what was very important when you were doing this research. I could have told you without doing that, but go ahead. Yeah, yeah. That, so the affidavits that we provided were to the extent that we could find somebody that knew, based on, you know, their personal knowledge, and, you know, they were swearing to it, they provided the period of time that they could provide. So in... As a... Yeah, go right ahead. Yeah, sorry. But the affidavits don't address the transient nature. Only one person speaking at a time, please. Somebody's going to have to type this all out, and they can't do it multiple conversations. Please. So the affidavits don't address the issue of transient rental. They talk about rental. The issue here is not rental. It's... Transient rental. The... So if you look at the... I think the way it would be easier for everyone to understand is if you look at the spreadsheet that we compiled... Exhibit F. Exhibit F. Exhibit F. If you look at that, you'll see from 1962 to the present day, there was multiple people who used the house for a week, two weeks... Two weeks. What my brother referenced was his recollection. You know, when I called him a couple of months ago, I said, Mario, just... You're going to have to redo the one that you did a few years ago, because they're asking for it to be in trans... Affidavit. Affidavit form. So you have to write something up, send it to Ms. Moore and Madison. They'll put it in an affidavit form. They'll send it back. They'll send it back. They'll send it back. They'll send it back. They'll go out and get it notarized and send it on. So I can tell you, because I remember my father telling this story. When he bought the house, he was in partners. He had a business partner. He owned a restaurant. Some of you may know it if you're familiar with Huntington. J&J, Southside Restaurant, very well known. It was one of the only three Italian restaurants at the time. My father was called Big Joe. His partner was called Little Joe. I'm sure you can guess why. My father was a little taller than his partner. And when my father bought the house, the deal he made with Little Joe was... One of the deals was, hey, I got the house. You're welcome to come out and stay for a week, two weeks, whatever. And by the way, you got the place in Florida. I'm going down there. I'm going down there in the winter. You'd think that was called barter. I don't know if money exchanged hands or whatever. So he was one of them. That was one of them. That was one of the originals. And I think Little Joe, I'd have to look at that. But I think Little Joe went for 10, 12. Actually, Little Joe went until my father passed away. He would go every summer. That's what they would do. But we had multiple, multiple others. You bring up the Manzellas. The Manzellas were great, great people. We loved them. They started renting just before I got married in 19... I got married in 1986, or just before I met my wife, I should say. They started renting in 1980. And I'll never forget because after they... The first year, they came out for a week as a referral from a neighbor. Second year, they said, hey, Joe, we like it out there. We're going to take two weeks. I think it was the third year. They said, you know what? We want three weeks. And I remember two or three years in, it must have been 84, 85, because I met Rosemary in 83. And I remember them saying, listen, you know, we want to get to know you. We want you and your fiance to come over and have dinner with us at our house in Baldwin. So they were great, great people. And when Miss Moore said, hey, you know, can you gather up a few more people? Other than the ones that you had in 2022, they came to mind right away. I called Mike. I said, Mike, how you doing? Actually, I got his number from the neighbor who referred him because we had lost touch. He's down in Florida now. And I told him, I said, Mike, do you remember when you rented the house from us? He said, absolutely. He says, those were the best years of my life. He lived with me. He was focused. Let's get you, because this is, sorry. They don't like the story. Oh, no, stories are wonderful, but, okay. Should I continue reading my testimony? Because maybe that will answer some questions. Or is he entering a word?

I'm looking at the list that you provided, and you were cited to Exhibit F. You don't put any monetary amounts next to any of the rentals, nor do you provide any leases, licenses, or checks. And if you look at the tax returns that you filed, I'm trying to piece together. And doing a compare and contrast to the number of days that you rented. Because in 2009, you list, you had a tenning between October 1 and May 15. And you say the duration of days is 226. So, clearly, that wasn't transient. That was a rental. That was a monthly rental. Yes, correct. Right? We rented, for the record, we rented almost every winter that we could, starting in 1962. And you're prompting me to tell another story, but I don't want to get nuts. So, let me make sure. That wasn't a transient. That wasn't a transient rental, as defined under our code, correct? They were longer than 30-day periods, correct? Well, I think what he's clarifying is, in the winter, people would take longer rentals. In the summer, which is the height of the season, is when people usually, that the demand is there, and therefore, the transient rental was operated. Most, I think... What? Looking at any transient rental might have the same situation, because the winter, they might be going back and forth and just coming out on weekends, but they would rent the house for the entire time. So, let me just interrupt a moment. For example, they just pulled up the June 22nd to July 5th, 2009 license agreement, because it's done as a license agreement when you're doing short-term rental. This has all the details of the term, how much, the advance fee, the security, and the check behind the agreement. So, if you want those, we can provide that. We can give you... Do you have enough? Can I give this one, or do you want to... It's okay? Oh, that's your original? We can scan it and send it. She knows that. We'll pass along. And there are other copies? We can get this right back to you. Oh, fine. Sure. Thank you. So, here's one example. Do you want to provide scanned copies? I can give you those. Yes. I can provide scanned copies. Do you have copies of any of the filed tax returns? I'm sorry. Give proof. I'm not sure I understand. That has the signature of the CPA and myself. When you pay your taxes, they don't send you back a return saying that you filed it. Right. So, I mean, he would swear that that's the... Well, this is perhaps a different affidavit from the accounting firm, because the accounting firm nowhere states that they filed these returns. What they state is they prepared them. And I can tell you firsthand, I know a lot of people who have prepared tax returns and failed to file them. Wow, I've never seen that, but okay. Baby. So, you think since 2008 we haven't filed returns? Well, I don't know if these are the tax returns. There's no problem. There's only like three people speaking at the same time. Please. Sorry. If you want that, we can certainly get it, because it's easily obtained. So, we can provide you with an affidavit that says that the tax returns that were prepared by the accountant between 2008 and 2024, previously provided to you. Copies previously. Previously provided were filed returns. And not a problem. If you could go a little faster on the affidavit, we might get to some other points that are important. If you don't mind, can we continue? Thank you. By the way, Mr. Fussell, in the event that you aren't granted this relief, what would you do with the property? I'm just curious. If they didn't get this relief? I asked him. If we weren't granted? I haven't given them anything. Okay. That's an answer. Okay. I don't see why we wouldn't be able to continue what we've been doing. Things happen. Excuse me? Things happen. So, to continue on, this has not been a hobby. We devote a lot of time to the business. You can ask my boys about that. It has been taken seriously as an investment, and the income generated has supported the income. The increasing maintenance of the property, increasing real estate taxes, we all feel that pinch, and provided income to three generations of our family. The short-term rental use has continued and has not been discontinued from its inception in 1962 through the present date. The property has been consistently offered for rent through real estate brokers, online platforms, but mostly from referrals. From former guests and neighbors, as I noted earlier, and directly to new guests by word of mouth. The property remains a single-family residence used by my family when there are no booked guests for a transient rental, with no change to our guest capacity or structural alterations expanding the use. No zoning violations or enforcement proceedings regarding this use were issued before the effective date, of the town's prohibition of short-term rental in 2013. In May of 2022, an enforcement proceeding was brought for alleged violation of Town Code 263.4, no rental permit, and the Riverhead Justice Court received a certificate of disposition and correspondence between the town's departments, leading to the issuance of the LPEU Exhibit 1. Executive Order 2. Executive Order 2. Executive Order 2. Executive Order 2. Executive Order 2. Executive Order 2. Executive Order 2. Executive Order 2.

Andreas Safakalis and Richard Downs, the Riverhead Town Investigator, from the office of the town attorney to cure the violation and prove that my family purchased the house in 1962 and rented the house prior to the adoption of zoning. I was guided by the building inspector.

I'm going to check that somebody put pressure on the entrance. This is going to get on.

I don't think it's going to carry the name. I don't think it's going to. It's not, but it's on the record. I think we heard it on the phone. Now you're up. What about Ann Marie? I provided those cases. No. This case is going to get ugly. It's going to get ugly. I'm going to go with the case. I'm going to go with the case. I'm going to go with the case. I'm going to go with the case. That's going to be on the record.

I don't want to count 1950 in this document, but that's the truth. I'm going to try to do it. I'm going to try to use me. I don't know what else. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. I want to see.

Yeah, just one. We don't need 20. I'll see it. I don't know. Yeah. And then we'll kill it. Okay. Sorry. Like on the ceiling. You're cool, boss. Thanks.

So much fun. You want to speak? So, Mr. Fasaro, I don't want to interrupt you, but it appears you're repeating your counsel's introduction and the statements she made and put in the record. But if you have something new or different, please continue. I don't want to interrupt you for that, but it seems like it's just repetitive and basically reading from the same document. But if there's something else. Yeah, there's a few more. I don't think Ms. Moore has stated all of these things, so I wouldn't be able to answer them. I would like to continue. Well, most of it's in the big affidavit thing, isn't it? It is the affidavit, but yeah. So if you're satisfied with the affidavit, that's fine. We don't need to read it. Pardon me? If it's going to be repetitive, there's no sense. It's already been indicated. Okay. So, yeah. So, the zoning board will accept, except from you, copies of the canceled checks, leases, and licenses. We're not going to make you produce, go through them tonight. You can submit those. As counsel for the zoning board, I'm going to put two things on the record. One is a zoning map from 19... 19... 19... I can't read it so small. 57?

I can't read it. Oh, 1957.

And the zoning code, believe it or not, 59, that existed in 1959. Okay. So, I'm going to put it on the record. A lot of individuals often recite that Riverhead did not have any zoning code prior to 65. Sometimes they quote 70. Actually, there was a zoning code in 1959. I mean, I read through, but your letters of preexisting use, I based it on what has been issued by building inspectors and the town. Actually it's only for Sale. Sale. letter of pre-existing use says 1970. um so i based it on that date because yes i mean i'm there were codes but i think that the code itself was didn't have any uh indication of uses it was actually that's why i'm stating that we'll we'll provide you with a copy of it i'll provide you with a copy of the zoning map this property was actually in the residence one zoning district um true a lot of the early codes had a lot of ordinances and not zoning but actually this 1959 code had zoning provisions but um so the use of the property is a single family dwelling the limitation of transient is really based on the rental code so actually respectfully i disagree and it would be unfair of me not to give you an opportunity to actually look at the 59 code because it defines single family residence different than a dwelling and a dwelling is defined as a could be transient it also uses it for Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Can we agree to allow them to submit additional documentation for their consideration?

How quick can that happen How quickly can you gather up we can scan it in for you so within a week or so yes a week or so this information would be able to Meet on it at the next meeting yes for the November prior to the November meeting is fine. We can we can accomplish that Let's do that. Let's move this along Guys good job presenting everything good God not a time Are they on a time that was put into this there was a huge effort? Taken to do this and I would submit that The building inspector when they issue pre CEOs or certificates Letters of pre-existing use I'm sorry use the another town's terminology They Gather the information they rarely go into this amount of detail obviously We're having to prove to you that he was correct, but they also go by their knowledge of the community the veracity of the people there to ! That you're not dealing with a developer motel owner someone who buys multiple properties and is doing a You know an Airbnb Enterprise this was I think you get the sense that this was a family that Had always rented this house and when you asked about What happened the enforcement? There's one individual in that community? on that street? That has acquired four homes. They're not adjacent, but they own four homes Waterfront homes they appear to be semi based on the town's records multiple family more than one dwell one housing It's hard to tell because we were looking at the town records. We would have to foil each of those properties, but it was that Individual that pushed very hard and I believe ultimately persuaded the powers that be to force the building inspector to revoke the the pre-sea of the certificate in lieu of well, I just have to state First of all you made a couple comments number one Andrea. So filofagus was not from Riverhead He has never lived in Riverhead as to knowledge of the area second of all the building department file in support of a transient rental consisted of five statements Not affidavits not sworn to five statements three of which were from family members one was which was from somebody's whose cousin at one time rented and only one was from an individual who actually rented But didn't state the date or period of time that they rented so, you know, I'm always careful not to be critical of any staff including if it's a determination to revoke So I just had to I understand I understand Can I respond to that? I understand I understand I understand I understand I understand I understand I understand I understand I understand I forgot her name, and another individual. Right, okay. So, Maureen Atwater is the cousin of the Manzella family. I know that, but- Who subsequently has now given us an affidavit that they rented from 1980 to 1993. One of the sworn- That's not the point I'm making. Your attorney was talking about the process and what was submitted. I'm not talking about what you submitted here. I was talking in reference to the original application to the building department. What was submitted then is not changed. Right, but- You're not supplementing that original application. I'm responding to what you were saying was originally submitted. What- Right. One of which was the next door neighbor who'd been there since before we were, and she attested to the fact that we've rented it since we bought the house. As I said, she's been there since before we've been there. An issue that we have is what prompted this review? There was no due process. We weren't told, hey, you have to come back with and put these things in. put these things in affidavit form because a notarized statement from your neighbor. Mr. Farrell, do you know what due process is? Yeah. What is due process? Due process is when there's an issue with something that you're giving the opportunity. It's called notice and an opportunity to be heard. We've heard that. It's called notice and an opportunity to be heard. Can we move on? We didn't get that. That's the point I'm making. I understand that. We didn't get that. It was just revoked without any due process. We've said enough tonight, and you've asked for something? Correct. We're going to get that for you. Okay. Let's get that as quick as possible so we can be ready for the next meeting. Sure. I would like to see this. Do you want it in advance? I don't know how much time in advance you need. Whatever you got it. Bring it over. We'll bring it. Okay. Listen, the zoning board, you know, it's always wonderful. We're willing to work with everybody. If there's a problem, simply notify Heather, and we'll work it out. Okay. Thank you. Just a question for the board and council. If this is going to be adjourned to November 13th, would you like me to put it on the agenda first for that date? Yes. Okay. Absolutely. You said November 13th? Yes. November 13th. Right. Okay. Does anybody want to make that motion, please, adjourn?

So moved. All right. Pardon me? Dan, are you still up there? I'm still here. Okay. Can we have your vote? Yes. Was there somebody needing to be heard? Shoot. I don't know. Somebody on the screen there? Kristen. Oh, a neighbor? Oh. We don't know anybody zooming, do we? No one had their hand raised to speak on Zoom. Okay. Okay. We didn't go over it. Kristen. Kristen.

Okay. Do we need Dan's vote? Yeah, I'm looking for Dan's vote. Mr. Zawieski, can we have a vote? Aye. Okay. Mr. Portia? Aye. Mr. Barnes? Aye. Aye. And I vote aye. So we'll see you folks on November 13th. November 13th? Yes. We'll come with more paperwork for you. How's that? Thank you. Endless paperwork. Have a great night, folks. Good night.

We do have minutes from September 25th and October 9th. Can somebody make a motion, please? Make a motion to accept the minutes for those two dates. Thank you. Second. Second. We have a second. I second. Second. Second. Mr. Zawieski, we have a vote on minutes for two weeks. What is your vote? It was to me, aye. Okay. Aye. Aye. Aye. And I vote aye. So the minutes have been adopted. Is there anything else? Nothing else. It's just a motion to adjourn. Okay. Make a motion, please. Motion to adjourn. All in favor? Aye. Aye. You look good, Dan. Thank you. Are there any other members for this motion? Are there any members for this motion? Are there any members for this motion? Are there any members for this motion? Are there any members for this motion? Are there any members for this motion? Thank you.