Expansion plans for the Jamesport shopping center hit an obstacle tonight. The Riverhead Zoning Board of Appeals denied an application for variances needed to build a 28,379-square-foot addition to the existing Main Road strip mall.
The expansion plan is not in keeping with the town’s master plan or the character of the community, according to the resolution passed by the ZBA in a 3-0 vote. Board member Otto Wittmeier was absent and member Frank Seabrook recused himself from the vote.
Residents near the center reacted with relief to the vote. They had objected to the plan which would have nearly tripled the size of the plaza.
Phil Barbato of Jamesport, president of the Riverhead Neighborhood Preservation Coalition, said after the vote that the denial was good news but he expected the shopping center owner to proceed with a modified expansion plan that would not require variances. The applicant’s architect, James DeLuca, said at a previous ZBA hearing that the owner would go forward with a scaled-back plan.
“It seems like Jamesport is a target lately,” Barbato said, pointing to a proposal for an assisted living facility on Main Road and the former site of the Gabrielsen farm being put up for sale.
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