Local law changes for shellfish, yard sale permits in Southold
After two recent public hearings, a local law regarding how the Southold Town Board adjusts shellfish permits was passed Feb. 25. Then on March 4, a separate law was passed regarding changing yard sale permits.
The changes to the Shellfish and Other Marine Resources law, the Peddlers, Solicitors, Loitering, and Transient Retail Merchants law, and zoning laws regarding personal property sales now allow fees to be “set from time to time” by Town Board resolution.
Previously, the fee for a noncommercial permanent resident or taxpayer shellfish permit was $5 and expired Dec. 31 of the year it was issued. Permanent residents older than 62 are not required to pay a fee, according to the Shellfish and Other Marine Resources law.
A license application fee was previously $200 per year or $50 per day or fraction thereof, according to the former Transient Retail Merchants law. The recent change made the fee subject to change by Town Board resolution and be nonrefundable for each license. The pubic hearing for both aforementioned local law changes was held at Southold Town Hall Feb. 25. They both passed unanimously without comment.
The fee for yard sales, attic sales, garage sales, auction sales or similar types of personal property was previously $15, as written in Chapter 280 Zoning. The approved amendment will now allow the Town Board to set new fees by resolution. The public hearing for the zoning law was held at Town Hall March 4 and received no public comment.
Town Supervisor Al Krupski said these local law amendments will help streamline the fee-change process when necessary.
“All that does is it allows us to set [the fees] by resolution,” Mr. Krupski said. “So it makes it easier for us to set the fee. That’s all it does.”
He said the Town Board is not changing the fees yet, but it will make the process to change the fees easier than amending the law each time it needs to be changed. The fees typically change once a decade, according to Mr. Krupski.
