Great food, beautiful location — but a site that’s difficult or impossible to bring in compliance with the law.
That’s the unanimous assessment of Riverhead Planning Board members grappling with the question of what to do about Farm Country Kitchen.
The popular West Main Street restaurant has been defending a lawsuit brought in state supreme court by the Town of Riverhead for nearly three years, and — like the restaurant’s pending site plan application — it doesn’t seem seem close to resolution.
That’s worrying planning board member Ed Densieski, who says it’s only a matter of time before someone gets run over or is seriously hurt when a car backing out of the restaurant’s limited parking area gets hit by an oncoming vehicle.
“I’m going to feel really guilty if someone gets hurt there,” Densieski told fellow planning board members at today’s meeting. “It’s dangerous.”
Farm Country Kitchen, tucked away in a secluded and scenic spot on the Peconic River, is operating under a 2004 certificate of occupancy and use permit for a take-out kitchen. It blossomed into a full-service restaurant that draws crowds from far and wide for lunch and dinner seven days a week.
But the eatery’s permits from the town haven’t kept pace with its popularity. Farm Country Kitchen lacks the on-site parking required for its restaurant operation. Bringing the site into compliance was the ultimate objective the legal action brought by the town in 2012, said Supervisor Sean Walter, though Riverhead’s lawsuit seeks an injunction preventing the operation of a restaurant there without site plan and other town approvals.
Restaurant owners Tom and Maria Carson have since filed a site plan application with the Riverhead planning department and they’ve obtained variances from the town’s zoning board of appeals to allow the restaurant to utilize off-site parking. The Carsons bought a half-acre lot on Sweezy Avenue for use as a parking lot. In granting permission to use that lot, the ZBA required the restaurant to provide valet parking.
But pesky problems remain. Where will cars seeking valet parking line up? What about handicapped parking? How will the restaurant prevent customers from parking in the areas currently being utilized?
Existing parking for the restaurant is angled parking along two sites owned by the the Carsons. Vehicles using that parking area generally back out onto the busy West Main Street thoroughfare.
“We need to eliminate the parking there and the backing out,” planning board member George Nunnaro said. “It’s dangerous. I agree with Ed.”
Planning Board chairman Richard O’Dea agreed also. He said he ate at the restaurant last week and had his wife stand in the road to stop traffic while he backed out — an admission that elicited laughter (and some teasing) from the other members.
“It’s not safe,” O’Dea said.
Nunnaro suggested curbing along the restaurant site and the adjacent site to the west, which is developed with a two-family residence used by the restaurant to house staff. Landscaping should also be used to prevent customers from parking there.
Farm Country Kitchen attorney Peter Danowski told the board his client is willing to do whatever the planning board asks.
“Anything you’ve said, I’ve tried to address,” Danowski said. “I think I have the right to an approval resolution. I think I’ve addressed everything you’ve asked.”
Besides curbing, the issue of handicap parking remains an outstanding question. Does the provision of valet parking eliminate the need to have a handicap
parking space on the same site as the restaurant?
“Handicap parking 500 feet away is not ‘proximate’ to the restaurant,” as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, planner Karen Gluth told the board. There’s no space for a handicap spot and valet parking, she said.
“We’ve identified the issues already — time and time and time again,” building and planning administrator Jeff Murphree said, frustration in his voice. “In staff’s opinion, we don’t see a response. If he wants to come up with an alternative plan, O.K. If not, then let’s put it up for a vote.”
Danowski also expressed frustration with the process. After the meeting, he said his clients have done everything the town has asked. In an effort to obtain site plan approval, they’ve spent $250,000 on a half-acre lot for off-site parking. They’ve gone back and forth with the state Department of Transportation on curbing and crosswalk issues. They’ve gotten variances from the town ZBA. They’ve agreed to replace a dilapidated sidewalk on Sweezy Avenue.
“I think we’ve done everything we possibly can,” Danowski said.
Allowing handicap parking to be provided in the off-site lot on Sweezy Avenue will provide more space for valet parking, answering the planning board’s concerns about traffic flow.
“This can easily be resolved,” Danowski said.
The town and the restaurant are next due back in court July 10.
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