Riverhead Town may restrict outboard engines

Saying the shallow waters of the western part of the Peconic River are being harmed by the small outboard engines used by some fishermen, the Riverhead Town Board is proposing a total ban on gasoline engines west of the dam at Grangebel Park in downtown Riverhead.

Unlike the wide river that opens into Peconic Bay to the east, the western part of the river — its headwaters start at Brookhaven National Laboratory — is a gently flowing, shallow body of water used mostly by people in canoes or by fishermen who stand on the shores.

Riverhead town code allows outboard motors of up to 10 horsepower, but town Councilman John Dunleavy said Tuesday that even those motors stir up silt and kill the grasses at the bottom of the river.

The town board set a public hearing on the ban for June 5 at 2:15 p.m. in Town Hall.