Southampton plans zoning overlay for affordable housing projects

During his daily commute to Ronkonkoma over the years, Melville resident Jeff Redelman has seen a steady rise of drivers speeding, following too closely and weaving between lanes. But he said he hasn't seen enough drivers pulled over. "There's never any enforcement," he said, adding he notices far more police whenever he travels upstate to visit his daughter in Binghamton. Peter Gill reports in NEWSDAY that experts generally agree police enforcement is an essential part of ensuring traffic safety, along with better infrastructure, road design and education. A Newsday analysis found for years, police in Suffolk County have issued significantly fewer dangerous-driving tickets than other parts of New York when adjusted for traffic, though their numbers have been rising. Commissioner Kevin Catalina of the Suffolk County police — the largest police department in the county, whose roughly 2,500 officers patrol the five western towns — said he has made traffic enforcement a priority since taking the lead of the department earlier this year. He's expanded the highway patrol 30% and told all officers that traffic enforcement is important for career advancement, he said. Suffolk regularly leads the state in total traffic fatalities, and although deaths have been falling after surging during the pandemic, total crashes have remained roughly steady and serious injuries have increased, both in Suffolk and statewide. Catalina said he doesn’t believe Newsday’s comparison of ticketing in Suffolk to other areas is appropriate because every place has a unique roadway system and a different balance between traffic safety and broader public safety needs. “I think what we need to do is compare Suffolk County to Suffolk County,” he said, adding that his department's year-to-date ticketing numbers in 2025 are up more than one-third above the same period in 2024 for speeding and aggressive driving. "I think we're certainly going in the right direction."

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The Suffolk County Water Authority has deemed itself exempt from local review of its proposed North Fork Pipeline, as Southold Town officials announced Tuesday that the town plans to hold its own “Monroe Balancing Test” on whether the easternmost portion of the project should be subject to local review. A Monroe Balancing Test is a nine-point test to determine whether a large project should be exempt from review by local land use boards. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the Town of Riverhead has already conducted its own Monroe Balancing Test on Phase 1 of the project, an 8.5-mile stretch of pipeline under roads that are primarily in Riverhead Town, and found in October that the project was not exempt from local review, setting the town in direct conflict with the Water Authority’s position. The Suffolk County Water Authority found in favor of itself in its own Monroe Balancing Test on Nov. 20, issuing a resolution that “SCWA is immune from zoning and land use regulations, including, but not limited to the towns of Southampton, Riverhead and Southold in connection with the project,” according to a resolution posted on its North Fork Pipeline webpage. “The Suffolk County Water Authority has adopted a Monroe determination confirming that the North Fork Water Main Project is not subject to local zoning,” according to a statement provided to The Beacon by the Water Authority yesterday. “Public authorities are specifically designed to carry out critical infrastructure work efficiently and without municipal obstruction and imposing local zoning requirements can delay a project that directly affects public health and water reliability. SCWA, in performing its essential governmental function, has clear statutory authority to construct and operate water supply facilities, and longstanding case law supports this position. We are moving forward to ensure the delivery of reliable, high quality drinking water to our customers on the North Fork.”...