A proposed code change that would require the developer of apartments within a public parking district to provide off-street parking spaces for the apartments drew criticism from a handful of downtown property owners during a public hearing last night at Riverhead Town Hall.
The downtown public parking district was established in 1967 to serve the retail businesses that then lined Riverhead’s Main Street. At the time, the town zoning code did not allow the construction of high-density multi-family housing on Main Street.
New zoning code provisions enacted in 2004 after the adoption of a new comprehensive land use plan in 2003 allowed the construction on Main Street of five-story mixed use buildings, with ground-floor retail and restaurant uses and up to four stories of residential uses above. It did not, however, require developers of the new apartment buildings to provide on-site parking.
The zoning use district that allows for the high-density residential uses is within the public parking district. But the number of existing parking spaces within the district are not enough to accommodate the number of parking spaces required by the new residential development — even with the 500-apartment cap included in the 2004 downtown zoning code.
Main Street restaurant owners have been complaining about a parking shortage in lots near their businesses and have expressed their worry that the new apartments currently being built will worsen an already vexing problem.
The proposed code change that was the subject of last night’s public hearing was written to address these issues.
Michael Butler, developer of ground-floor shops and 19 workforce housing apartments on two upper stories in the former Woolworth building, said downtown geography makes it impossible for property owners to build parking on site. Downtown sites won’t generally support underground parking garages because of the shallow depth to groundwater in the area of the riverfront.
A solution discussed by officials — but not yet formally proposed — is requiring a developer to make a payment in lieu of parking, or PILOP, when on-site parking is not practical.
But that could become burdensome on developers too, Butler noted, considering the fees they already have to pay to hook up to the town sewer and water districts.
“You’re taking away my property rights,” said Ike Israel of Richmond Realty. Israel is an owner of the building where Blue Duck Bakery, Ralph’s Italian Ices and the Farmers Kitchen is located, on the south side of East Main Street, east of McDermott Avenue.
“We bought that building in 2007. It’s a 6,500-square-foot building on a 7,500-square-foot lot. By implementing this resolution I’m not going to be able to go up five stories like I’m allowed to under the code,” Israel said.
Architect Martin Sendlewski, who also owns property downtown, cautioned the board about altering code adopted pursuant to the comprensive plan without first conducting a review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. Sendlewski said he believes the town would be required to complete an environmental impact statement before making such a change.
Town building and planning administrator Jefferson Murphree said the town is conducting a SEQRA review.
Murphree asked the board to keep the 500-unit cap in mind.
“We’re almost there,” he said, when two more site plan applications that have already been submitted are taken into account. “If we add one more project to the list, we’re over [the 500-unit cap].”
There are currently 240 apartments either already constructed, under construction or approved along Main Street: Summerwind Square, 52 units; 1 East Main Street, 5 units, and Woolworth, 19 units are already built and occupied; Peconic Crossing, 48 units, is under construction on West Main Street; and Riverview Lofts, 116 units, is set to begin construction this spring on East Main Street and McDermott Avenue.
The two site plan applications currently under review are a proposal for the now-vacant former Sears site and the Suffolk Theater property, where apartments are proposed to be constructed above the existing structure. Taken together, they would just about double the number of existing or already approved units.
Applying current parking schedule requirements, those two proposals would require a combined 293 parking spaces, he said.
“I’m not sure the downtown could absorb another 293 parking spaces,” Murphree said. “I’m sure the merchants wouldn’t think so,” he said.
“We need to do something about this now.”
Deputy Supervisor Tim Hubbard, the town board liaison to the parking district committee said the town will soon be taking up a proposal to implement a PILOP program. It is hoped that funds generated through that program will help the town provide additional parking areas downtown.
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.