New York City consulting firm to work on Shelter Island Comprehensive Plan

After months of working without a consultant, members of the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Board learned Monday night that the Town Board was poised to hire a New York City consulting firm at a cost of $90,000.

The consultants, BFJ Planning, are currently serving Riverhead with its comprehensive plan and have a history of similar work with many communities in the United States and abroad.

The firm was the only respondent to a request for proposals that went to nearly 90 firms. With the Task Force aiming to have a new comprehensive plan completed by the end of the year, Councilwoman Meg Larsen speculated that the short timeline for completion of work resulted in other companies not submitting bids.

The work would include not only writing the plan, but a thorough state environmental review of its contents and then submission to the Suffolk County Planning Commission.

Councilwoman BJ Ianfolla said the push to complete the plan this year came because the effort has taken so much longer than originally envisioned. A break from working on the plan was due to the June 2021 resignation of project manager Edward Hindin. His resignation came in the wake of the Advisory Board pushing through a resolution calling on the Town Board to make no changes in zoning or land use until a new comprehensive plan was adopted. Mr. Hindin told the members they were going beyond their scope in making that request.

Ultimately, the Town Board called a temporary halt in the process. 

Some Advisory Board members on Monday night questioned why the consultant would be looking at chapters they haven’t discussed in depth. Ms. Larsen ensured they would continue to look at all chapters and to make changes they decide are merited.

Advisory Board member Petra Schmidt also raised the need to reach a consensus on what data is being used in several parts of the draft plan to shore up recommendations the plan will include.

Advisory Board member Lily Hoffman said she’s concerned about the push to create accessory dwelling units (ADUs) for affordable housing. Ms. Hoffman said previous efforts to encourage property owners to create ADUs drew no interest and there still is no data on how many affordable units are needed on Shelter Island. She said owners don’t want to be controlled on how much rent they can charge. She also pointed to difficulty enforcing requirements for those who might create affordable ADUs.

Ms. Ianfolla said hiring more enforcement personnel would require tax money, but noted there are restrictions tied to the grant money that’s available for homeowners to adapt their properties for affordable rentals. Advisory Board member John Kerr said there can be other incentives to a property owner, such as ensuring a tenant is on site when the landlord has to be away, or having a tenant able to perform certain work the homeowner might otherwise have to hire someone else to do.

There will continue to be forums with the public and everyone is free to add suggestions for changes to the plan on the town website under the comprehensive plan tab. Comments can be added under each plan section listed.