Cuthbertson's Code Enforcement Summit Draws Crowd

The code-enforcement summit hosted by Town Councilman Mark Cuthbertson Tuesday night illustrated two disparate opinions regarding accessory apartments in the town. 



There are those who feel restrictions should be more liberal allowing for more legal apartments and  those who feel the laws should be tightened.

"We should incentivize the legalization of accessory apartments," said Richard Kubecka. 



"Huntington Station is overcrowded enough," said Matt Harris. "I am asking you to not make it easier to have an apartment, legal or otherwise."



But both sides seemed to agreed that landlords who rent apartments that are currently illegal should be penalized. 



Cuthbertson said he and the rest of the Town Board members are working toward stronger enforcement and detailed what the town has done or plans to do.

Those included authorizing additional town attorneys to prosecute violations; having public safety personnel monitor apartment advertising to look for signs of illegal housing; approving higher fines for violations and eliminating an exemption of registration fees for Section 8 apartments, and reinstituting a zoning violations bureau.

"Currently all are prosecuted as crimes so it's the same standard of proof in order to convict someone of a housing violation if you wanted to convict them of murder," he said. 

The town is also in the process of "cracking down" on unauthorized alcohol sales and consumption in delis and bodegas, he said.



Department of Public Safety Director Bruce Richard detailed code-enforcement tools, especially the town's public nuisance code. 

"That's a very strong tool in our arsenal," he said.  

Many of the audience members told Cuthbertson and Richard about violations at specific homes including using or selling illegal drugs, forging a vehicle identification number and gambling.

He added that the community needs the public be vigilant in reporting violations. The town does accept anonymous complaints but, Richard, said if you do complain anonymously he recommends a follow-up call within a week because they won't know how to reach you with questions. His department is currently working on a dedicated hotline e-mail for complaints.



The town is also working with police and fire departments, he said, with whom the town can enter a dwelling that police officers or fire department personnel see while responding to 911 calls without violating the Constitutional rights of citizens.

"We can go in under their authority if they advise us a house is in violation," Richard said.
One resident said she was told that she was told town code enforcement personnel had kept volunteer firefighters waiting for as long as two hours making them reluctant to call.

Richard said he wasn't aware of that but would talk to his staff. He said most of the officers work 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. but that one works 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.

He was also asked what the current regulations are regarding so-called 'sober houses.' He said they must follow the same regulations as a single-family home. "Our main issue is safety. There can be no bolts on the doors, ovens in the bedrooms," he said.

The requirements to have a legal-accessory apartment are a minimum 75-foot lot frontage, a minimum of 7,500-square-foot total lot size and a minimum 650-square-foot apartment size. The Town Board is currently considering eliminating the lot frontage requirement for seniors. Currently residents who do not have 75-foot lot frontage can apply for a hardship variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals.