Riverhead Town Board roundup: $35M Peconic River Hotel secures site plan approval 

The Peconic River Hotel can officially begin construction with the unanimous approval of its site plan and special permit application for the $35 million Town Square centerpiece. 

The latest proposal from master developer J. Petrocelli Development Associates calls for a 69,738-square-foot hotel on a 0.42-acre site at 117-127 East Main St. with retail space, a 116-seat restaurant, hotel common areas, amenities and lower-level parking. 

The project, which has been in development for eight years, now proposes 94 rooms, with 80 guest rooms and 14 suites. Originally, the proposal included 76 hotel rooms and 12 condominiums, but the developer has since removed the residential units from the plan.

Construction of the hotel must be completed within the next three years, according to the town board resolution. The site plan approval is valid for 36 months, with the possibility of one 12-month extension by the Town Board.

“For the past almost five and a half years since I came in office, we have been working on this project from day one, and I promised upon arrival that the focus was revitalization of downtown Riverhead,” Councilman Ken Rothwell said, before voting yes to the site plan and special permit approval. “This is another key component and a key step towards moving forward and keeping those promises.”

Critics continue to ask how the town board can move forward with a site plan and special permit approval without a completed parking plan and agreement in place. 

The current site plan calls for nine parking spaces on the lower level for hotel staff, along with laundry, storage, trash and mechanical areas. Guest and patron parking would be handled off-site through a valet system, first using parking behind The Suffolk theater and later shifting to the planned First Street parking garage once it is completed.

At the meeting, town attorney Erik Howard said the agreement will be done shortly and incorporated into the approved site plan. 

“Parking is certainly one of the most important elements of any successful downtown,” said Martin Sendlewski, chair of the Riverhead Parking District advisory committee. “We certainly don’t want to create a problem, especially since the garage is likely years off…this resolution is silent on parking.” 

Laura Jens-Smith, chair of the Riverhead Democratic Committee, urged town officials to delay their vote on the site plan due to the project potentially sitting on a New York State designed environmental justice area, as noted by the Suffolk County Planning Commission in its comments included in the resolution. 

This designation focuses on improving the environment in minority and low-income communities, and addressing disproportionate adverse impacts that may exist in those communities, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

The Suffolk County Planning Commission approved the special use permit and site plan for the Peconic River Hotel, but recommended Riverhead Town coordinate, prepare and implement an enhanced public participation plan, such as optional public hearings with translation services, for those within the census block can share input on the project.

“Each specific requirement that follows the 60 days, the multiple languages, the newspaper posting, the translation services, the 45 day wait is written with shall and must — those are separate sentences, each a command in its own right,” Ms. Jens-Smith said. “This community deserves the process the law promises.”

Mr. Howard explained the county planning commission’s statements were comments, not conditions, and the town board can still pass the resolution.

Days after the approval, Dawn Thomas, the town’s community development administrator, met with town officials at a work session on Thursday to give an update on the Town Square construction timeline.

The first phase of the Hilton Tapestry Hotel is underway, with building permits issued and construction beginning. To keep the community involved in the progress, she said the town will host the first public engagement meeting on the Town Square project in September.

Design of the First Street parking garage begins this fall, as well as relocation of the East End Arts buildings. As the hotel construction continues in 2027, the adaptive playground and Town Square work will begin next spring or summer. East Main Street streetscape improvement may start in the fall of 2021 and construction of the parking garage is aimed for beginning of the fall of 2028. If the timeline goes according to plan, Ms. Thomas said the parking garage could be finished by fall 2030.

The goal is to have the Town Square downtown revitalization project fulfilled with a community-wide ribbon-cutting in 2030.

The Peconic River Hotel project was one of several issues the Town Board tackled Tuesday. Here’s what else happened at the August 4 meeting:

• RVAC zoning exemptions approved, public hearing set for Sept. 1: The Riverhead Town Board determined the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps‘ proposed 25,303-square-foot headquarters is exempt from town zoning and land-use regulations under the state’s Monroe balancing test. A public hearing is set for Sept. 1 on the proposed bond issuance.
• Golf Cottages zoning plan moves forward: The Town Board formally launched an environmental review of its proposed code change that would allow golf courses to build cottages on Tuesday. Officials hope to adopt the zoning changes by December. The first of two passed resolutions declares the Town Board lead agency for the environmental review and issues a positive declaration finding that the proposed zoning changes may have significant environmental impacts. The resolution included the draft code amendments and a full environmental assessment form.
• Settlement on United Riverhead Terminal tax assessment lawsuit: The Town Board authorized a settlement in a long-running tax litigation between United Riverhead Terminal and the town’s board of assessors. URT, a fuel oil terminal in Northville, sought a 90% reduction of tax assessments for the tax years 2020-2021 through 2025-2026, according to court records. The cost of the settlement was not disclosed in the resolution or by the town board.
• Decommissioned fire-hose flag to be permanently displayed at Town Hall: For America’s 250th celebration, local artist Sherry Davis created a large American flag woven from repurposed fire hose, called “United We Weave.” The fire-hose flag which was displayed on the back of the Riverhead Town Board’s float during the July 4 parade. It now has a permanent home in Town Hall.