Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Emergency Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Riverhead board closes Monroe hearing and exempts RVAC ambulance barn from local site-plan review
Summary
The Riverhead Town Board closed a Monroe balancing hearing and adopted resolution 2026‑764, finding the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps' proposed 25,300‑sq‑ft ambulance barn at 1121 Osborne Ave. exempt from formal site‑plan review; RVAC representatives said volunteers have raised $6.4 million toward an estimated $14 million project.
The Riverhead Town Board closed a Monroe balancing hearing on a proposed Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps (RVAC) facility and adopted resolution 2026‑764 finding the improvements exempt from formal site‑plan review under the Monroe test.
Senior planner Greg Bergman told the board the project, at 1121 Osborne Avenue, would demolish the existing ambulance barn and replace it with a three‑story, roughly 25,300‑square‑foot building with offices, meeting rooms, bunk rooms and garage space for emergency vehicles. Bergman said the design exceeds zoning limits for floor‑area ratio, height and lot coverage and would require variances if local zoning applied, but noted certain state and county approvals (health, highway permits, wetlands, stormwater plan) remain required regardless of zoning.
An RVAC representative said the volunteer corps has raised $6,400,000 to date for the project and expects to bond the remaining costs. “We have raised $6,400,000 towards this project,” the speaker said, urging the board to move the project forward so the existing cramped facility can be replaced. The representative described operational problems at the current site, including limited space for vehicles and difficulty securing climate‑controlled storage for regulated medications.
After public comment from a volunteer mental‑health counselor and others who said expanded training and private counseling space were needed, the board voted to close the Monroe hearing and adopted the Monroe‑exemption resolution. The board also set an amended order calling for a public hearing on increases and improvements for the Riverhead Ambulance District to be held Sept. 1, 2026, consistent with the project schedule. Staff and applicants will still need to obtain required county and state approvals and satisfy outstanding technical requirements before final construction permits.
The town attorney referenced New York General Municipal Law and Monroe v. City of Rochester as the governing legal guidance for the balancing test; the planner noted the town code would still apply to non‑zoning approvals such as stormwater and health permits.
