Suffolk OKs bill raising age to pawn jewelry

Suffolk legislators on Thursday voted 16-2 to raise the age to sell gold and silver jewelry at county pawnshops from 18 to 21, a move intended to place a hurdle for teens hawking stolen items and using the cash to buy heroin.

The bill's sponsor, Legis. Thomas F. Barraga (R-West Islip), acknowledged that the legislation is not likely to impede the demand for heroin or stem drug use in the county. But he and supporters like Legis. Tom Cilmi (R-Bay Shore) called it "a step in the right direction."

"This bill is not going to make it easier for parents to get their jewelry back, I understand that," Barraga said. "All they want is to make sure this easy source of funding is shut down."

County Executive Steve Levy's spokesman, Dan Aug, said Levy will sign the bill.

In other action, county lawmakers also approved an overhaul of county farmland program rules after backers agreed to tighter limits on erecting farm structures like greenhouses on land to which the county has owned development rights.

The original proposal would have codified earlier guidelines permitting coverage to 15 to 40 percent of such land with structures, but the revised version will now limit it to 10 to 15 percent.

Farmers seeking waivers to exceed the limit will need to secure approval from the legislature's environment committee and the county's farmland committee.

Lawmakers also voted 12-6 to override Levy's veto of a bill ordering his Department of Social Services to develop a plan to place homeless sex offenders at a series of sites throughout the county.

Last month, Levy's office released a lone response to a request for proposals for the plan, which would have kept homeless sex offender sites secret until after offenders were placed in them. Levy and the legislature rejected that idea.

And legislators voted 15-2 to direct Levy to place a police substation in Huntington Station to combat violence near the Jack Abrams school.