Proposed Mill Road assisted living facility files for zone change
A little more than a month after the Riverhead Town Board adopted a new zoning category aimed at allowing assisted living facilities in the town, the Melville company that has been planning such a facility on Mill Road has submitted an application to change the zoning on that property to the new category.
Genrac Associates, doing business as The Concordia Senior Community, on Tuesday submitted a zone change application seeking to rezone 25 acres on the east side of Mill Road, south of Middle Road and north of Home Depot, to the new Retirement Community zoning.
The company plans to build an assisted living retirement community and generic continuing care retirement community on that site, their application states.
Ronald DeVito of Corcordia Senior Communities in Melville first presented his plan publicly in early 2010 at a Riverhead Industrial Development Agency meeting, where he asked about potential tax incentives for the project. However, officials say it has been discussed privately with town officials for some time prior to that.
The main problem facing the project at the time was the town’s zoning code, which wouldn’t have permited the type of multi-faceted facility Mr. DeVito sought.
The Town Board then opted to create a new “floating zone,” that would allow assisted living facilities on any properties in town that meet the criteria set forth in the zone. Normally, zoning is site specific.
The Town Board spent about three years devising the new zone before finally adopting it at their June 19 meeting.
The 25-acre site off Mill Road is currently zoned Agricultural Protection Zone and is mostly vacant land.
The proposed development would add 225,000 square feet of building, according to the application.
The zone change is subject to Town Board approval.
