Peconic River May Have Status Change

By Tiffany Razzano

Posted 2/20/09

The Peconic River serves as a natural divider between Southampton and Riverhead Towns. However, the two Towns find themselves butting heads over the river's classification.

The river's currently considered a "recreational river" which gives it environmental protection, but Riverhead Town has requested that the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) downgrade that classification to "community river," which carries fewer restrictions. Under this new designation, previously prohibited non-river-related activities, such as commercial and industrial uses, new construction, and government uses, would now be allowed.

Concerning the downgrade, the County has approached the DEC, which has said such the change would have no significant environmental impact. But this change would affect the nearly 190 acres along the river - 134 are privately owned and located in Riverhead Town, and nearly 50 acres are located at the county's Southampton Town complex in Riverside.

Southampton Town has decried such a downgrade and approached the DEC for a month-long extension on making the decision - which they were granted - so they'd be given more time to study the possible, long-term impacts of the Peconic River being granted "community" status. Southampton Town said that, though the DEC was nearing the end of the State review of Riverhead's and Suffolk's applications, it hadn't been notified of the potential change. The public comment period, which had an original deadline of January 30, has also been extended, to February 27.

"We haven't looked over everything and there are still documents coming in, but we are reviewing it all with Marty Shea [Southampton's chief environmental analyst]." According to Jon Semlear, a member of the Board of Trustees, Shea will submit a letter of the Town's concerns to the DEC by the Feb. 27 deadline. Semlear said it was "a surprise" when they found out that Riverhead wanted to reclassify the river.

Cautioning that the issue isn't about "Southampton against Riverhead," Semlear said the Board is concerned "about how it could affect possible redevelopment upland" as well as the surface waters of the area and even the Peconic Estuary as a whole. He said that since 1985, after a dense brown tide bloom, a significant amount of money has been directed toward resurrecting the river and Southampton is concerned that making the river a "community river" could reverse the work that's been done over the years.

However, reclassifying the river will actually have positive environmental effects, said Riverhead Deputy Supervisor Bill Welsh. "This would give us the extra push needed to upgrade the sewer system," he said. "This would allow us to get the storm water runoff under better management. In the long run, there will be less runoff into [the river.]" Currently, nearby properties, including homes, have private cesspools that cause waste and chemicals to runoff into the river. Changing the Peconic's classification to "community" status, means Riverhead would be able to link those parcels to the County's sewage system. Also, Riverhead Town owns many of the parcels along the river and a large amount of the land will remain preserved anyway, Welsh added.

Riverhead Town representatives have also suggested that reclassifying the river, which flows through the Town's stagnant and dilapidated business district, could reinvigorate the area. Currently, many storefronts remain vacant, with little foot traffic and few visitors.