No Fourth Floor on Proposed Hotel - Sign Petition Now

 

The Issue

For Port Jefferson Village Residents 

What's happening: The owners of the Gap site, located on Main Street,  submitted a conditional use application to tear down the existing building a build a four-story redevelopment of the existing retail property, resulting in a 40-unit hotel with ground-floor shops and a rooftop restaurant.  This application would require multiple conditional-use allowances.
 
Current zoning does not allow any building higher than three stories within downtown, but there is a method that would allow the Zoning Board to change this zoning without violating the “spot zoning” regulations.  

The zoning in this area was put in place to protect the historic charm of the village from being destroyed. Such a zoning change for this one parcel could also set a precedent allowing more developers to request the same privilege. 

Residents need to make the Port Jefferson Village Board of Trustees, the Zoning Board and the Planning Board aware that residents do not favor such a change. They need this information before they start the review process and the developer needs to know that a four-story building is not welcome in our downtown area. 

What Residents Can Do

Join other residents who have already signed a petition on Change.Org that will be sent to the Port Jefferson Village Zoning Board, the Planning Board and the Village Clerk, stressing that the residents to not want the current zoning of this property to be changed to satisfy the desires of a developer. 

The petition will be open until June 26, 2025.

Link to Petition: Change.org No Fourth-Floor on Proposed Hotel

Note: This petition does not reflect any opinion on whether a hotel should be built in this location. It only deals with resident disapproval of changing the existing Zoning to allow a fourth floor to be built on a building in the downtown historical district.

Note 2:

Change.org does not require a donation to sign this petition. Just sign and back out without making a suggested donation. 

I was the Victim of Mayor Sheprow's Bulling

At the May 28th Village Board of Trustees meeting, Trustee Candidate Matt Franco referenced an incident in which a member of one of the Village’s commissions had been bullied by the Mayor. That individual was me.

At the time, I served as the Chairperson of the Citizens’ Commission on Erosion, working on the bluff restoration project. Following one of our meetings, as I was leaving, Mayor Sheprow approached me to reprimand me for a personal Facebook post I had made regarding a prior Board of Trustees meeting. She told me that, as a Commission Chair, I was not permitted to publicly comment on village matters.

I explained that I had made the post as a private resident, not in any official capacity, and had not referenced my title or role with the Commission. I pointed out that restricting me from speaking on public issues was a violation of my First Amendment rights. She disagreed, telling me to “go home and think about what I wanted to do,” and warned that if I continued to publicly comment on village matters, I would need to resign from my volunteer position.

Although I strongly believe this was an infringement on my constitutional right to free speech, I felt intimidated and chose to resign. Despite stepping down, I have continued to attend every meeting as a resident observer, always respectfully and without disruption.

Unfortunately, the bullying didn’t end there. At a recent Commission meeting, when the Mayor was asked a question by a Commission member, she looked directly at me—sitting quietly at the back of the room—and sarcastically asked, “Are you going to write about this?” When I replied that I didn’t know, she stated that she would withhold the information if I remained in the room. Later, she again refused to answer a question, saying she would not speak while “the reporter” was present. It seemed clear to me that she was trying to pressure the Commission to ask me to leave or to intimidate me into doing so myself. I stayed.

All Village Committee and Commission meetings are open to the public. When residents volunteer to serve, they are not provided with any guidelines restricting what they may say in public forums or on social media.

No resident should be treated this way. Refusing to share information at a public meeting simply because a blogger (I am not a reporter) is present is yet another example of Mayor Sheprow’s selective approach to transparency.

Selective Transparency - Not A Way To Govern

 

If this morning’s News 12 article was the first time you heard that a developer has officially submitted a request to build a four-story hotel where the GAP building is located?

If you answered “Yes,” it is most likely because our Village is governed using an approach known as Selective Transparency. 

Wayhomestudio.com (freepix.com)

Selective transparency refers to revealing some information while concealing other information. It's a strategic approach in which an organization, government, or individual chooses to be transparent about certain aspects of its operations or decisions while maintaining secrecy or opacity regarding others. 

In the case above, the May 9 Planning Board Meeting Agenda was not released on time as required by the New York Open Meeting regulations. It is required that the meeting agenda be released to the public a minimum 24 hours prior to the scheduled meeting. However, I repeatedly checked for this agenda until around noon on Thursday, and it was not posted. At that time, I assumed that the only item up for discussion at the meeting would be the posted Open Meeting for an application to allow an apartment above a home.  

To me, it appears that this little “Oh, sorry for the error or late posting” is just another example of the many times this has happened during the current administration. If it were not for News 12, many of us would have no idea about the insane proposal to rezone and allow the building of a four-story hotel in the heart of our quaint historic harbor front village.

A truly transparent leader tells the good, the bad, and the ugly and looks for input from the residents before taking action. There have been too many Closed Executive, Special, and Emergency meetings resulting in immediate action by the Board of Trustees. Using this guise allows decisions to be made without input from the Village residents and does not allow the Trustees sufficient time to study the matter adequately. 

Some examples of when selective transparency was used by our current Mayor include: Removing of the firearms from Code Enforcement Officers, a lease of the Country Club, which permanently closed the restaurant/bar making the facility a catering establishment, and moving forward with the multi-million dollar Bluff Restoration Project Phase II without a referendum. I am sure you can think of many more. 

The Mayor believes that her Commissions and Committees are staffed by residents, and since any resident can join,  it ensures transparency. These groups do excellent work and I applaud the members for their service. However, the 4 -12 member groups do not provide a valid statistical sample of the voice of people since our Village has over 8,000 residents. 

I believe the Village needs a new leader who will be transparent in all instances. We can take the good along with the bad and the ugly if we are part of the process in making these major decisions. 

We have a chance to make change happen this June 17, when we go to the voting booth. Be sure you vote and select the officials you feel will provide true transparency and who truly encourage resident input PRIOR to making major decisions. 

Author Note:

I encourage comments and discussion, but if possible, I suggest you post them on the corresponding Healthy Conversations Port Jefferson Facebook page, where this post was listed. This way, all members can join in the discussion. 

More Can Be Done To Stop Dangerous Bicycle Behavior

Background:

I have been reading and hearing numerous residents complain about young men on bicycles acting dangerously on the streets and sidewalks downtown. Some residents feel threatened. For example, one resident posted, “I was in the village yesterday when I watched 25-30 young men on bicycles block the road between the Steam Room and the ferry entrance doing wheelies and riding in circles.I then witnessed them terrorize people in Harbor Front Park by doing wheelies and riding erratically across the lawn down onto the dock.” 

Life used to be simple. You just called Code, and it was handled. But, now we need to figure out who to call, the police or Code. So I decided to ask Code this question at last night’s Board of Trustees’ Meeting. The answer I received was very different than what I read in the Village Code. 

Code’s Response: 

When I asked who to call when such an incident takes place (Code or 911), I was informed that we can call Code and they will respond and talk to the offenders. This answer is very different than what I read in the Village Code. There is a lot more that can be done at the Village level. And these additional tools need to be used to put a stop to this behavior.

Village Code Related to Bicycles:

Chapt 181 - Peace and Good Order, Art IV - bicycles 181-13 Reckless Operations of Bicycles clearly outlines what is considered “Reckless Operations of Bicycles.” So it appears that violations of this code could (and should) result in a fine and not just “being spoken to”.

According to the Code 181-13 these acts are considered a violation:

No person shall operate a bicycle:

A. Without due regard for the personal safety or the safety and rights of pedestrians and drivers and occupants of all other vehicles, and to endanger the life, limb and property of any person while in the lawful use of the streets or sidewalks or any other public or private property

.

B. Without exercising reasonable and ordinary control over such bicycle.

C. By trick riding or in a weaving or zigzag course, unless such irregular course is necessary for safe operation in compliance with the law.

D. By attaching the bicycle or themselves to any vehicle being operated upon a roadway.

E. By operating the bicycle while, at the same time, also operating a cellular phone, camera or other electronic device.

F. In or on a Village athletic field, athletic court, fenced or enclosed area in a Village park, playground area, or Rocketship Park.

More Aggressive Action When Called For:

Village Code 181-14 allows the impounding of the bicycle being used in violation of Code 183-13. 

It states: “In addition to any other penalties imposed by law, whenever a person operates a bicycle in violation of the Village Code, the bicycle may be seized by any member of the Suffolk County Police Department or Village of Port Jefferson Code Enforcement Office and impounded. A bicycle so impounded will be surrendered to the owner or, if the owner is a minor, to the parents or guardians of such minor, only upon final disposition of any charges or the payment of any fines levied for all violations of this Village Code. A complete record of each such impounding shall be kept in the office of the head of Code Enforcement.”

NOTE: Mayoral Candidate Kathianne Snaden was the Commissioner of Public Safety and worked with the Village attorneys to write this legislation and pass the new Code. She has definitely proven that the safety and well-being of village residents is one of her top priorities. 

Author’s Opinion: 

The Village Code provides adequate tools for the Village Code Office to use to set clear examples that this type of behavior will not be tolerated in our Village. Sometimes, strong actions are needed to protect the safety and well-being of the people. 

Other residents have said that they approached a Code Enforcer about this behavior and were told to “Call 911”. According to the Village Code, it is their job to use the tools available to put a stop to this behavior. I suggest you take the Code Enforcer’s name and report it to the Code Supervisor and the Village Clerk’s Office. 

As we all know, the Office of Code Enforcement has recently been revamped, so let's hope this is just a learning curve.

Spoiler Alert! -Updated with new information

Update 4/30/2024

Today, the April edition of the Port Jefferson Village Voice was released. It contains an article about Lessing's contract with the Village.

I am opening this update with my "Author's Opinion" because I feel it is important that residents realize that it was highly unlikely that the Mayor, Trustees, Village Staff, and the Village attorney did not pick up on this issue concerning who could get food service at “The Turn” while reviewing the contract with Lessing. The Mayor only brought up this “error” after residents brought up the issue on social media yesterday, which leads me to believe that the Mayor is just trying to cover up an action that will most likely negatively affect her reelection campaign. 

The Mayor does not discuss the fact that there is no longer a restaurant at the facility. 

If you remember, the contract was presented to the Board of Trustees at a March 17, 2025, Board of Trustees Special Meeting. At this meeting, the contract was discussed and the Trustees voted on allowing the Mayor to sign the contract. Perhaps if the Mayor had not pushed such an important issue via a  “Special Meeting,” the Trustees would have had sufficient time to conduct further research.

The Mayor's Comments about the issue:

In the article the Mayor states, " In the days following this event, there were some public complaints that the Turn would be open only to PJCC members. While the contract indicated such, it was deemed a “scrivener’s error” and is being adjusted through a subsequent agreement between the Board of Trustees and Lessing’s. 

“Anyone who thought that Lessing’s would be asking for identification and proof of membership at the Turn or any Country Club offering is quite frankly mistaken,” said Mayor Sheprow. “Lessing’s is the most welcoming partner we could have ever imagined, and they are pursuing ideas and opportunities to build the relationship in real time.” 

Original Post

Are you looking forward to enjoying a wonderful dinner while sitting on the deck of Port Jefferson Country Club or perhaps catching a quick lunch at the Turn?  According to the lease, this is not going to happen, possibly for the length of the ten-year lease.

In Mayor Sheprow’s Facebook post (April 26 @ 10:54 am), she discusses the wonders of the new Lessing’s lease of the County Club, which states, “.......— to resurrect and reinvigorate our beloved Country Club social and hospitality services. I’m proud to say that’s a promise we made and delivered on.” 

However, she fails to mention that the new 10-year lease states there will be no restaurant and that the Turn will serve members only. 

According to the First Amendment to the License Agreement Between Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson and Lessing’s, Amendment 1 it states, “....There will be no à la carte restaurant operation inside the Clubhouse. The current restaurant space will be used to host member, resident, and private events.”

In addition, the lease amendment also states the following in Section 4 concerning the “Turn”. Lessing’s will operate the Turn “.... for the limited purpose of making food and beverage service available to Country Club members during normal hours at the Halfway House “The Turn.”

Blogger’s Opinion: 

Here is just another example of the Mayor’s interpretation of the term “transparency.” Everything she said in her post is true, but as usual, she only tells the part that she determines the Village residents should hear. But, the true defination of transparency in a business or government context refers to being open and HONEST.

The Village is spending about 5 million dollars on the portion of the total bluff restoration project to protect the Country Club building (remember FEMA grant money is taxpayer money). That is a huge investment for a place where non-member residents will enjoy and use only on occasional events at the “sole discretion of the Concessionaire” (Lessing’s).

I personally believe we need to use this election to make some big changes to who will be representing our Village after the July election.

Lessing Amendment 1 lease

Controversial Proposal for Ten-Unit Apartment Building on Belle Terre Road

 Last Chance to speak up:

The Zoning Board of Appeals of the Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson will hold a Public Hearing on Thursday, APRIL 24, 2025, at 6:30 PM at Village Hall located at 121 West Broadway, Port Jefferson. (A pre-hearing work session will begin at 6:00PM). 

macrovector_official / Freepic.com

Applicant Arian Nawaz, M.D., is seeking a change of zoning and multiple variances to build a two-story ten-unit apartment building with a basement, on an empty lot located on the West side of Belle Terre Road, approximately 220’ south of Princess Tree Court.

The proposed apartment building is not a permitted use within the P-O Zone ( Professional use) and would require a Zoning change. 

In addition to the Zoning change, the following variances would be required to build it:

1. Lot Area requests 21,998 sq. ft., where 40,000 sq. ft. is required.

2. Lot Depth requests 171.42 ft., where 175 sq. ft. is required.

3. Front Yard Setback” requests 10 ft. where 40 ft. is required.

4. Parking requests: 14 spaces where 15 are required.

Public Outcry: During a previous meeting, when this project was first announced, many residents spoke against this project.  Their objections included the negative environmental impact that building a large structure and a parking lot on this steep parcel would have on the flooding issues in lower Port Jefferson Village and the variances that would be required (see above).

Author’s Notes:

Zoning was put in place for a reason. Changing the zoning to accommodate the whim of one person, building, or corporation is NOT a prudent practice. The Village already has more than its share of apartment buildings and apartments. If the Village allows the change of zoning for individual lots designated for other use (professional, single-family homes or commercial) to be used for mini-apartment buildings, it could start a precedent that could result in this type of complex being built everywhere in the Village. 

For example, there is currently a Presubmission Application to remove a non-rented professional building located at 116 Oakland Avenue and replace it with a three-story apartment building. The property owner stated that the professional building is no longer desired in the village since most doctors are becoming part of large health organizations such as Nortwell. If this is true, imagine how many of these small professional buildings may now become apartment buildings. 

I believe we need to speak up and stop this endless building of apartment buildings if we want to keep the charm of our historic small village. 

A good question to ask the candidates running for office in the June election is how they feel about changing zoning to allow more apartments. 

Full Public Notice

What Happened to Port Jefferson Village Code Red Alert System

 

This post is updated to supply information received by a local resident.

The resident informed me that the Village posted information about the harbor contamination on the Village's Facebook page late yesterday afternoon or early evening. The Port Jeff Alert (prior Code Red) did not go out until 6 am today. The Port Jeff Alert should have been issued at the same time.

Author's Notes:

If the Village reacted by posting the alert when they first posted it to their website, it could have prevented anyone from touching the contaminated water. One resident reported that they had their dog at the beach in the water and was taking the dog to the vet to ensure the dog was not harmed. The Village must realize that many residents do not use Facebook, nor do they follow Village News on the Village's website. A timely used emergency alert system is a must. I believe everyone should sign up for Suffolk County's system. It is also good to have a backup. (instructions below)

First, the good news! 

The Village still has an emergency alert system. It was renamed “Port Jeff Alert”. The link to register to the “Port Jeff Alert” can be found at the bottom of the home page on the Village website. Beware: it is a very small graphic located at the very bottom of the home page. Clicking on the Port Jeff Alert link will allow you to sign-up for the alerts from the system. If you already have an account on Code Red, you need not register again.  

Village's response to why they did not issue an emergency alert: 

I have reached out to Village Code and the Village Clerk's office.  The Code office informed me that the department does not handle these types of alerts. The Village Clerk, Sylvia Pirillo,  was extremely helpful and explained that the message we received was generated by the Village. The Village put the alert out at around 6 a.m this morning. She has also requested that the Village gets immediate notification of such events before it is released to news sources since the Village was not informed until last night. 

Another way to get emergency alerts is to sign up for SuffolkAlert.

SuffolkAlert is the official emergency notification system used by the Suffolk County Emergency Managers and Public Safety Officials to communicate with community residents during emergencies. Sign up now to receive free alerts from the SuffolkAlert via text message and/or voice message.

Sign up for SuffolkAlert by texting SuffolkAlerts to 67283

Complete your Safety Alert profile at Smart911.

Having a Safety Profile allows you to:

• Stay informed of weather, traffic, and other emergencies in your community

• Add your address to receive geo-targeted alerts

• Indicate what types of alerts you want to receive, including weather, traffic, emergency, and more.

• Indicate how you want to be notified by text, email, and/or voice message.

• Allow Suffolk County to assist homebound individuals during emergencies Sign up for information about Vector Control, Parks, and much more