The future of a Sonic Drive-In restaurant planned for a site off Route 58 is in doubt.
Representatives of the owner of the site told the town board today that Sonic has “backed out.” But the owner is moving ahead with applications for approvals in the hope of rekindling the interest of the fast-food franchisee in Riverhead.
“We’re doing our best to bring them back,” said Sean Walter, Wading River attorney and former Riverhead town supervisor, who is representing the owner of the property.
“Sonic left because they felt Riverhead wasn’t moving quickly enough,” Walter told the town board at its work session today.
In an interview after the meeting, Walter said the cost of bringing a sewer line to the site was another factor in the franchisee’s decision.
The developer applied for site plan approval in 2015. The planning board held a hearing on the application in January 2016. The site plan approval was never granted, Walter said.
“The process was too cumbersome and the cost of running the sewer line under Route 58 was too great,” Walter said.
After the Sonic franchisee walked away from the deal, property owner Inheritance Development decided to pursue the approvals in the hope of bringing the franchisee back. The company is currently developing a Sonic in Shirley, Walter said.
The project requires a special permit from the town board in addition to site plan approval.
“This could be approved in the winter or early spring and the owner could start building in early summer, if the town board can move it forward, focusing on the special permit criteria and let the planning board do their job with the design professionals,” Walter said.
“This will add to the town’s tax base and the town needs to keep developing its tax base,” Walter said. “I hope we can get the public hearing set.”
The discussion of the special permit application by the town board went into site plan details this morning, with Councilwoman Jodi Giglio questioning various specifics about site design, internal traffic flow on the site and other site plan particulars dealt with by the planning board during site plan review.
The proposed restaurant with drive-in, curb service is allowed in the Business Center zoning use district by special permit of the town board.
The site is a 1.78-acre vacant parcel located about 230 feet west of the intersection of Osborn Avenue and Old Country Road, adjacent to the gas station on the northwest corner of the intersection. It has road frontage on both Old Country Road and Osborn Avenue.
The developer proposes a 2,759-square-foot drive-in restaurant with 57 seats — 41 indoor and 16 outdoor— and 22 drive-in/curb service parking stalls, as well as a separate 5,000-square-foot, one-story retail building.
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