Riverhead weighs online permits and $1.5 million records digitization plan

Riverhead plans to move permit applications online and scan decades of paper files into searchable digital records. The proposal would pair an electronic permitting system with a separate records project, giving the town a way to process new applications digitally while also making older property files easier to find.

The electronic permitting platform was estimated at about $106,190 to launch, with another $72,750 a year to run it. The records digitization effort was estimated at more than $1.5 million up front, including about $1.33 million for scanning and about $194,200 for the storage portal and indexing system. Annual storage would add another estimated $34,000.

The proposal would speed up government work and reduce the back-and-forth that often comes with building records, especially when residents or attorneys need old files and when Freedom of Information Law requests slow down service at the counter. The same system could also help contractors who return repeatedly for parcel records, permits and supporting documents tied to ongoing projects.

Its building department page lists permits for new construction, additions, alterations and signs, and links to an electronic FOIL application and online building-inspection scheduling. The Town of Riverhead Online Submission Portal requires applicants to create an account, search for the parcel, upload the necessary documents and submit electronically.

The town’s FOIL portal makes prior requests and responsive documents viewable online, and Riverhead already takes online payments for water bills, tax bills and parking permit fees. The clerk’s office is the central place where documents and papers vital to townspeople are filed.

The building department’s forms page lists applications already in use for residential and commercial building permits, demolition, signs, pools, solar work and use permits. In 2019, the town noticed a public hearing on an electronic filing fee law amendment that referenced an electronic records retention fee, and later notices that year changed certain filing and permit fee schedules. In June 2026, the town board posted another public hearing notice to amend Chapter 105 filing fees.