Town to present comprehensive plan update this month

Riverhead officials will hold a public meeting on the town’s comprehensive plan update on April 22 to present a summary of work completed to date and to discuss priority issues and opportunities that the town should address going forward.

The workshop will take place at The Suffolk theater at 118 East Main St. from 10 a.m. to noon.

“The Town invites residents, business owners, property owners and other interested parties to share their ideas about how Riverhead should change and what assets should be protected over the next 10 years,” a town press release said. 

Yet while the Town Board has hired a new consulting company to complete the plan update, last week it also suspended its building and planning administrator, Jefferson Murphree, for 30 days for undisclosed reasons.

Prior to his suspension, Mr. Murphree had been in charge of overseeing the update. Councilman Tim Hubbard said the board plans to hire a consultant to at least temporarily replace Mr. Murphree.

The town has sought public input over the past few years through public meetings, an online survey and other methods, officials said. The goal is to ensure that the comprehensive plan is representative of the entire community.

A second public workshop will be held in the fall, and officials say subsequent public hearings will take place before the plan is formally considered for adoption.

As for the upcoming meeting, officials say a recording of the presentation will be posted on the project website for those that are unable to attend in person.

For more information, meeting notices and updates, visit the town’s comprehensive plan website. Comments can be sent to [email protected].