Review of two downtown apartment buildings moves forward: Town Board wrap-up May 2

Applications for two downtown apartment buildings are moving forward.

The Town Board last week scheduled a public hearing on the site plan application and Draft Environmental Impact Statement for 203-213 East Main Street, a proposed five-story mixed-use building on a 1.42-acre parcel located between the East End Arts campus and the Riverview Lofts apartment building. The building will provide 165 market-rate rental apartments on the upper floors — 52 studios, 80 one-bedroom and 33 two-bedroom units— and 7,910 square feet of commercial, amenity, lobby and leasing space on the ground floor. The developer proposes providing 155 on-site parking spaces. The public hearing is scheduled for June 21 at 6:05 p.m.

See Draft Environmental Impact Statement below.

The board last week also initiated the environmental review process on a site plan application for a five-story, mixed-use building at 426 West Main Street and 116 Sweezy Avenue. The board classified the application as a Type 1 Action under the State Environmental Quality Review Act and issued a request for lead agency status for the purpose of coordinated review. The building would provide a total of 133 rental apartments on the upper floors (25 studio, 83 one-bedroom, and 25 two-bedroom units) and approximately 4,700 square feet of ground floor commercial space, as well as underground and first floor parking areas. Also at last week’s meeting, the board adopted a capital project budget to initiate the completion of a map and plan for connection to the Riverhead Water District. The map and plan will be prepared by water district engineering consultants, H2M at a cost of $7,500.

In other action at its May 2 meeting, the Town Board:

• Declared 201 Howell Avenue, where the town’s building and planning departments are located, as obsolete/surplus property and authorized the sale of the building, subject to a permissive referendum.
• Amended the employment contracts of two key management employees, Financial Administrator WIlliam Rothaar and Community Development Director Dawn Thomas, to s Employment Contract Between the Town of Riverhead and William Rothaar, Financial Administrator in recognition of their “dedication, leadership and length of service.” Rothaar’s contract was amended to immediately include five additional days vacation, retroactive to April 23, 2022. Thomas’ contract was amended to immediately include five additional days vacation, retroactive to Sept. 1, 2020.
• Appointed a probationary police officer, Blaze Yeager, to the Riverhead Police Department, effective May 3.
• Reappointed Board of Ethics members Jeanmarie Costello, John Lombardi, Donna Barnard and Audrey Zaweski and appointed a new member, David McKillop.
• Appointed three provisional employees to permanent Civil Service titles: Planner Gregory Bergman, Town Personnel Officer Ashley Striplin-Tio and Cultural Affairs Supervisor Rebecca Adams-Korn.