The show of support was loud and clear.
Nearly two dozen people spoke at a packed town board meeting in favor of multifamily rental housing and a community center on Northville Turnpike land owned by First Baptist Church of Riverhead.
The town board called a public hearing on the proposed new zoning code specifically aimed at allowing construction of the Family Community Life Center project— 132 workforce housing rental apartments, plus a YMCA-type community center with a gymnasium, indoor pool, meeting rooms, classrooms, performing arts space, child care and senior care facilities. It was the second public hearing on a proposed code to make the project possible. The first was held in November 2013.
Family Community Life Center is a nonprofit organization was founded by members of First Baptist Church and is headed by Shirley Coverdale, wife of the Senior Pastor Charles Coverdale. It goals are an extension of the ministries at First Baptist Church, Associate Pastor Cynthia Liggon told the Riverhead Town Board last night. The church will donate 12 acres of land for the project.
“We’re a church,” Liggon said after listing the church’s dozens of programs and ministries. “This is how we preach and teach the gospel and this,” she said emphatically, “is how we practice the gospel.”
Advocates of the proposed development lined up behind Shirley Coverdale at the podium to speak on the community’s dire need for affordable housing for young workers, young families and senior citizens and for a community center to serve as a hub for activities and sports for our youth, and day care for children and adults.
“Downtown cannot provide enough workforce housing,” said Coverdale, who spoke immediately after her husband and associate pastor. She read letters of support from the Long Island Regional Planning Council, the YMCA of Suffolk and the Retirement Housing Foundation. She submitted seven more letters in support of the project, from individuals and organizations alike.
Speakers in support included Suffolk County Community College president Shaun McKay, Suffolk County National Bank president Howard Bluver, PBMC Health senior vice president Ron McManus, Riverhead Building Supply owner Edgar Goodale, New York State Police Capt. Bill Hulse, and former Greenport Village mayor Dave Kapell, along with teachers, social workers and other residents.
Despite the extensive testimony about the need for the Family Community Life Center project, last night’s hearing was not a hearing on the project itself but rather a hearing on the proposed zoning code that will allow such a project to be built.
The proposed new code creates an overlay zoning district that the town board may place on a parcel of land that is “eligible” under the requirements of the new code. To be eligible for the overlay district a site: must have a minimum area of 10 acres
must have a minimum 800-foot frontage on a state or county arterial highway
must be served by the Riverhead sewer district and Riverhead water district and
must have sufficient area to meet all requirements for parking, buffer setbacks, landscaping and open space requirements.
The housing provided by a development in the CBD overlay must be 100 percent workforce housing, as defined by state or federal standards. The new code itself defines “workforce housing” as “residential housing occupied by residents whose income conforms to guidelines published by a governmental authority with appropriate jurisdiction as 80 percent to 120 percent of median adjusted for area.”
The community center facilities must be available to the general public and may be offered for rental by the public at fees set to defray operating costs only.
The zoning would also allow for mixed-use buildings that contain professional offices of a the resident of the building.
No one spoke out against the project, or, more precisely, the proposed zoning — though two community members expressed concerns that the code as drafted is too vague and could open the door to other high-density uses.
Laura Jens-Smith of Laurel, a Democratic candidate for Riverhead Town Board in the last election, said she thinks the Family Community Life Center is “a great project,” that she said “should be used as a model for the zoning.” But Jens-Smith had reservations about the code as drafted.
“As an overlay zone, it can go into other areas of the town,” she said. “The code needs to ensure the community benefit will always be there.”
Phil Barbato of Jamesport, speaking on behalf of the Riverhead Neighborhood Preservation Coalition, said he worried that the code, which he described as “too vague,” was doing “a disservice” to the project.
“The code that’s going to enable this project needs to be improved so that it doesn’t impact all the communities of our town,” he said.
The limitations of the code as drafted prevent that kind of impact, Supervisor Sean Walter said. A 10-acre minimum lot size, a minimum of 800 linear feet frontage on a state or county arterial road and inclusion in the Riverhead water and sewer districts, when combined, are very restrictive requirements, he said.
The sewer district takes in all of downtown Riverhead and a lot of the area between Route 25 and Middle Road. State Route 25, County Road 58, County Road 73 (Roanoke Avenue south of Route 58) and County Road 43 (Northville Turnpike) are the only county and state roads within or touching the sewer district. (Middle Road is a town road.)
Councilman John Dunleavy, who has in the past expressed opposition to the Family Community Life Center, said last night he wants to see that the apartments and offices proposed would be on the tax rolls. If so, he said he could support the plan.
Long Island Farm Bureau director Rob Carpenter said the farm bureau is opposed to increasing development density on lands within the town unless farmers are given the same increased densities.
“If they’re going to give away density via a change of zone, we’d like that to go throughout the ag protection zone,” Carpenter said in a phone interview Monday. We’d like to see that spread evenly across the board or not at all.” He said the farm bureau would submit written comments on the proposed legislation.
The town board left the hearing record open for written comments until March 31.
If the code is adopted the property owner could then make application for the overlay district. That would be subject to another public hearing and the application itself would be required to undergo extensive environmental review, Riverhead environmental planner Jeff Seaman said last night.
The survival of local journalism depends on your support.
We are a small family-owned operation. You rely on us to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community.
Support RiverheadLOCAL today.
