Full Transcript

All right. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Thursday, July 23rd, 2026 meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals. May we stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

My Pledge of Allegiance is for 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. Heather, you want to start us off? So we only have one appeal on tonight. That's appeal number 2026-015, Carlo Centeno, 413 Craderville Avenue, Riverhead. 7th County Tax Act number 600-124-2-13, residents A40 zoning to legalize an addition to detached garage. applicant request variances and or relief from town code chapter 301-9a1c where rear yard setback is 3.3 feet minimum required is 20 feet and chapter 301-11 where lot coverage is 21.55 percent maximum allowed is 15 percent Right to the mic. Oh, okay. And we did receive the affidavit of posting and proof of mailing. There is a mic. Okay.

Good evening. Excuse me, are you a lawyer? Architect. Okay. All right. Both of you going to speak? Yes. I'm going to swear you both in. Please repeat after me. Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so I hope you've got it. I do. Please state your name and address. Henry McRae, McRae Architects, 34 Willis Avenue, Mineola, New York. Go right ahead, sir. Do the same thing, I'm sorry. Raise your right hand. I do solemnly swear, tell the truth, the old truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God. Yes. And state your name and address. Maria Josepa Centeno, 413 Fray Roble Avenue, Riverhead, New York. What did you hit him? Maria? Very good. How do you spell your last name? C-E-N-T-O-N-E. C-A-T. C-E-N-T-E-N-O. Okay. Pronounced Centeno. Okay, thank you. Go right ahead, sir. So, way before the board this evening for relief, the rear yard setback and also the lot coverage, coverage the owners started a renovation to their detached garage without a permit and then they contacted me to provide an application to the building department to obtain permits for the work the addition that they're doing to their garage is a 13 foot side yard addition to the attached garage the same front-to-back depth of 16 feet and they were basically maintaining the same rear yard setback of the existing deep-batch garage they weren't going any closer to the property line it aligned with the side of it so it was just a side widening of the existing garage there was a existing bump out of the existing garage I think as a shallow garage so I think the previous owner had made a bump out to the middle of the garage to allow car to pull in so the hood would not hit the back of the garage wall and that extended even closer to the rear property line so in our application we propose to remove that so that the full body of the existing garage was a straight plane and and did not have this bump out piece that would even decrease the rear yard even more. But our addition that we're proposing to get a relief on just lines up with the back of the garage. And the purpose of the renovations to the garage was to create some space for a home-based office for Maria's business. What type of office? So she has a cleaning business. where she cleans both residential and commercial. And it would just be used for phone calls, accounting purposes, records, and for meeting potential new customers, not to store any chemicals or anything like that.

So I would assume you've been on the site. I have. And could you tell me what has already been done inside? So they started, they did the shell of the new structure. They started building a three fixture bathroom inside. I went to the sewer district. We filed an application with them. They are connected to the sewer district. So it's not on-site sanitary. And we do have an application for them. if it's allowable we didn't get the response back yet for them to run a line back into the house to tie into their existing sanitary system in their house um i don't know if that's allowed if they would need to tie directly to the if it's allowable to the sanitary system and not go through the house but i explained to the homeowners that there's a chance that a bathroom may not be allowed in a detached garage and that's so when you say this receptacles what did you call them a three fixture bathroom so it's like a shower a toilet and a sink oh okay just want to be clear on that yeah okay what's the purpose of the shower the this is yeah that's what i'm confused accessory to the principal structure. So I'm presuming that's a shower existing in the house. Why would you need a shower to answer calls and do accounting work? they just thought it was an it would be a easier um accommodation for whoever's in the office that would not have to go all the way back to the house through a shower well most people when they work their home occupation or their occupations. You don't shower at work. So it doesn't really seem to make sense. This is where I have trouble reconciling. I mean, you told me there's a number of uses. It's for clients, meeting new clients, et cetera, et cetera. And it's my understanding, she told the inspector, that it was for storage only. I'm having trouble reconciling all these versions of what's going on. Do you know anything about her proposed storage, or is this something first you're hearing? Yes, I think the reality of it, and I want to present a clear picture of what the intended use is to the board, is that she wants to use it as a home occupation, space for home occupation. Okay. And so she's going to work strictly out of the garage addition and not work in the house and do her showering and her calls and everything else in there. Are there any other apparatuses that you're proposing inside the building or the addition? No. I see on the old survey there was a fire pit or a fireplace. Is that going to be eliminated or was that eliminated? Was it framed? We did have an updated survey. That has been eliminated. This survey is dated 7-10-25. Okay, I have a newer survey. Is that the site name? It's the survey. Okay. I have this one on file. That's what's posted in the appeal documents. I don't know if you have, excuse me, that's not the right one. It's the site plan showing the addition, which I have. I know the other one.

So when you did this site plan, these were based on a surveyor's measurements or your measurements? Initially, it was based upon my measurements. But then we did, no, we had a survey. You had a survey done? We did have a survey done. I do have a newer one. Okay. Let's see here. So if I look at this correctly and the addition comes off of that heading south, you would testify that that addition is the same 3.2 feet all the way across? Yes, that is correct. Okay. That's what you're saying. That is correct. All right. Because it's all said and done, at some point, you're going to need a final survey once it's complete for a CO. So let's hope you don't need a variance for that as well. I did get an updated survey that just came in. I thought I had it in this package. Let me just locate it. Give me a second.

Definitely take a minute to find it. I would like to review that survey. So this was done 7-14-26.

And it just basically shows just a continuous structure, which includes the addition. Do you have an additional copy, or would you be able to email it? I have an additional copy. I only have these two, but I have it on the computer. Mr. McGregor, I don't want to be here and show three to one. The environmental assessment form, it has change of use from garage to storage, and then it says install three fixture bathroom in the garage. I have problems. reconciling those two is it if it's a storage you need a shower you know i'm saying i have problems with that oh i basically was documenting what was already built prior to me getting retained and i explained to the owners that um there's a chance that the bathroom is going to have to be removed from the application good chance and they're aware of that um is your client also with it it's my understanding is an unauthorized curb cut yes we don't have use of the camera tonight Anne Marie oh yeah the cameras not working so if you wanted to so these are all dated

So pursuant to the town code, it is not legal to park in a front yard. In addition, it is not legal to make a second curb cut without the highway superintendent's approval. and if you look at the photographs at one point in time there was one single driveway and a green front lawn and over time because they're all date stamped that has eroded into a quasi second driveway with some concrete it's going over driving over Belgian blocks the parking on that driveway is illegal currently under the code second of all requires a permit which no permit has ever been applied for to my knowledge unless you tell me different no it has not they did speak to me after I was retained for legalizing the renovations to the garage to address the driveway I told them that you know let's focus on getting this renovations to the garage done first and then we would address the the driveway situation one of the problems is however what you're saying is that um that the town may not allow a second curb cut on a lot of this size one of the issues is with respect to lot coverage so So, to my knowledge, I'm not clear whether or not the calculation as to lot coverage reflected the, quote, second illegal driveway. It did not. So, this application and the relief you're seeking is actually not correct. In addition, according to the survey that you handed up to myself and reviewed by Zoning Board Member Barnes, it doesn't maintain the 3.3. It actually goes down to 2.8. 2.8. which may require an amendment to the application as well okay because of the skewing of the back property it's slants so we would definitely need amendment to the yeah you would have to have an amendment have to be renoticed remailed and you could I mean if the sign is so up you would have to keep it up and change it to whatever date this would be adjourned to but if we don't know it also be beneficial for inspection and plans yes no um well if you're saying about as-built plans or what's currently in the structure as built um is that something you could quickly draw up and show us what the layout inside is I have drawings. Oh, you do? Perfect. If you could pass that up over to our secretary or our designer, Matt, our planner, our future. We'd have to re-notice if the impervious surface coverage percentage goes up. Right. And also the setback relief. Correct. Here we go. Now we're talking. I mean I would advise the owners and it's just my approach as an architect that if there's something that they've done without a permit that would not be allowed that we would just have it removed and not try to file and and then get denied especially before the board so on here you have recreation room what's that when I submitted the application one of the plan examiner said call it a recreation room but oh I got you but I didn't want to like do the dance in front of you guys and just tell you exactly how she plans on using it so then everything and then it clears the way I'm basically calling it as I see it so that if you guys do an inspection you'll see that my documentation reflects what's in place and if it's necessary to make a modification to what's been built prior to getting a permit then we'll make those adjustments that would be a good idea then we'll know what the setback is behind the garage so-called slash it yeah and so we got the updated survey you know there was just an assumption that it was just parallel to the and I'm gonna request code enforcement do a re-inspection okay previously when code enforcement has got to the residents they were denied the ability to do an inspection so I would like an agreement tonight that code enforcement will have an opportunity to access and inspect the property issued a stop work order and no work has continued but prior to the stop work order code was denied access to the property and the records reflect different responses for the purported intended use. Until they hired an architect and submitted an application.

Is Carlos your husband? Yes. He's not here? No. Okay. He works evenings. He works at nights? Yes. Okay.

Anyone from the audience want to be heard?

You have to go up to the podium and be smart. You've got to come up and get sworn in.

Raise your right hand. I do solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God. Please state your name and address. Anna Schlitter, 423 Cradable Avenue, so we're right adjacent to them. Your last name is S-J? S-Z-L-E-J-T-E-R. So prior to me and my husband being property owners, my parents owned the property previous. My property is actually separated. There are two separate lots rather than one, even though it is gated around the whole thing. We had previously, I would say 10 years plus ago, we had submitted, because we had two separate properties, submitted documentation to be able to build on that lot. We were told that the lot was too small. We went through multiple ZBA board meetings. We eventually got denied building on it. Was it merged by operation of the lot, by deed? It was not. At the time, it was not. So it was a separate lot? Correct. I can't believe that would happen. It is currently now merged. It was previously. By deed. It was previous when that was the time. We were told that it would cause too much population. And it had gone through almost, I would want to say, about a year's time of going through the ZBA board processing. We were almost to an agreement to sign off. whomever was supposed to sign off at that time the day we were supposed to get the documentation someone from the board retired and they wanted to do another review anyway regardless we ended up not going through with that my concern is having another unit on that property on the neighbor's property being built as a occupancy where a family may be in there or or something to that extent if it's an office I'm okay with an office but not with a shower not with a stove not with the kitchen in there that I'm against because you know we wanted to have a house and if you can turn a garage into a living situation I'm very much so against that well we did discuss that before you got I'm sorry about that no that's okay but we did discuss it so I do understand what you're saying we're concerned about the the restroom and why is it necessary because now they're saying it's gonna be their office for her business is that what you understand that's what I'm hearing now when I walked in I did not know that coming in though right right we have to see how it's vetted and and see where it's headed and we're gonna wait for certain drawings from the architect and we'll figure it out so but you're welcome to always come to the next meeting and pay attention to what's going on if there's any changes or amendments but what we found so far is they're gonna have to repost it because we found that the rear part of the property is encroaching to the rear with the additions so that would require another hearing and posting so when you see that please come back thank you thank you for coming anyone else want to speak I just saw him I swear to tell truth the whole truth nothing but the truth so help me God please state your name and address later living on 423 Crottyville Avenue Jason property yes I came here to voice my opinion and maybe even voice my concern about this whole situation I wasn't even aware of the intent of the structure but I did notice the construction going on right but now looks like there is a lot of confusion here we are between the storage office space what I had a problem is with is the fact that now we're going to have some strangers let's call them coming to the office supposedly trying to do business I had a problem with that because my kids are driving riding bicycles on the street you know Polish town was created originally as a peaceful quiet neighborhood and I would like to keep it that way it's been that way for almost a century now so I don't see the need to commercialize that zone now especially Crotville is a very very quiet short stretch it's not a main route going between major roads so I feel a little concerned if I have now strange people coming to the business and we don't know who they are right they are that locals most likely so that's my main concern the other thing that I wanted to note is the architect stated that they applied to the sewer district for permission to connect to existing sewer lines those lines are already in ground I'm not sure if the board is aware of that that entire lot was dug up it was a major construction several months ago I can't remember exactly I have some photos saved but there is certain items already in place ahead of ahead of the game so that's that's what voice that's what creates concern for me well we do have a sewer district and the superintendent of the sewer district would do an on-site inspection to see if it's possible to run a line from the addition to the house and then to the street the superintendent may require another way to do it right but there's going to be a permit for it and it'll be reviewed by professionals so at least you know that's going to be looked at okay all right the other thing is was explaining to your wife is that there's going to be another hearing because the rear property line is closer to the addition so that has to be heard and vetted we're still trying to sort out what they really wanted to do with this addition it started out of storage but now it's an office a home office with a creation well no that was inside that but that was on the inside and that was before he was involved or got involved and and they decided that's probably the best avenue to take at this point but we'll see how it works out we're going to be patient and listen Thank you. Anyone else out there?

Council, you got anything to say? There's no one on Zoom. But just to note for the record, home occupations conducted in detached structures require special permit approval from the town board. So even getting through the variance process, there would be another hearing with a different board. So there is going to be another process to carry forward your use that she's proposing But and it's going to go back and forth should we grant the variance should we wait for the variance to listen town board meets And grants a special permit that has to be discussed But in the meantime, I would alter your application and submit what needs to be done and then we'll take it from there

Excuse me? Huh? I was ready to have to go to the podium. I forgot. I'm sorry. I definitely would want to address all of the zoning-related issues before the board. Yes. And get those clarified before we went to the other departments for their additional approvals. Okay. Sounds good. I'm going to recommend go through the application. much of the application was not satisfactory to me as counsel it was left blank i want a full and complete application answering those well we can talk about specifics thank you so um as far as the the setback um the 2.8 feet and then whatever the impervious surface coverages with the additional driveway because you know lot coverage and impervious surface coverage are two different things impervious means pretty much anything that um you know water can't pass through readily so compacted gravel rca driveway any and all structures i would follow up with the building department more specifically the senior building inspector just to see what he's going to want if you're going to update the site plan if you're you're going to utilize the new survey that way he can draft an updated denial letter and then I can re notice I'll reach out to the surveyor also to have him document the yeah calculations on the survey that's fine to calculate it yeah and then I you know again just my approach and the way I deal with different building departments is to get a determination or some clarification with the interpretation of the Town Code as to whether or not that's even legal I can't it cannot even though it's already there I'll have the surveyor if the decision is made that it just has to be restored back to its original condition that will make a note on the survey to be removed in reference to the second drive we have so just to allow for time to get everything up to date and then the time to re notice the legal notice I think that would put us in September so we'd have either September 10th or September 24th which pleasure And to the 24th

Attempt the tenth is fine make a motion adjourn in September 10th second Mr. Barnes, all right whiskey So you've been adjourned to September 10th Thank you for your presentation tonight Thank you. You're welcome.

We have no other hearings on tonight, but we do have minutes from the June 25th meeting. Can we make a motion? Make a motion. We accept the motions. OK. All in favor? Aye. The next meeting date is August 13, 2026. Thank you. We just need a motion to close. Motion to close. So moved. All in favor? Aye. Thank you.