Raymour & Flanigan backs out of Riverhead, Sonic still a possibility

The former Toys “R” Us building on Route 58 is no longer being considered for a Raymour & Flanigan furniture store, Riverhead Town building and planning administrator Jeff Murphree said Thursday.

Raymour & Flanigan had filed an application to move into the site in April 2019, after Toys “R” Us declared bankruptcy in 2018.

The furniture store is a northeastern chain that reportedly has more than 100 stores in seven states. 

Toys R Us had occupied the Route 58 site since 1990. 

Sonic still planned

Another Route 58 site that’s been proposed for redevelopment, but hasn’t been on a planning board agenda for some time is the Sonic Drive-In proposed on the north side of Route 58, across from Apple Honda. But Mr. Murphree said that plan is alive and still being reviewed.

He said last year that the big holdup for Sonic is that they have to get the sewer hookup across Route 58.

The proposal, which was subject to a public hearing in January 2016, called for a 2,579 square-foot restaurant with 44 indoor seats, 16 patio seats and 22 drive-in parking stalls under canopies where customers can order food from their cars through kiosks.

Bob Fanelli, one of the partners in the application, said in 2017, that they had to go before the state Department of Environmental Conservation due to the proximity to wetlands near the site — and they needed sewer approval.

That application goes back to 2015.