Proposals for seven projects seek a piece of Riverhead’s $10 million downtown grant

Seven project proposals for Riverhead’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding were submitted in response to an open call issued by the committee tasked with developing a strategic plan for spending the $10 million state grant.

Funding proposals were made by each of the private entities highlighted in the town’s DRI grant application: the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall ($1 million), the Long Island Science Center ($1.5 million), the Suffolk Theater ($3 million) and J. Petrocelli Development Associates, the town’s designated master developer for the town square project ($5.8 million).

In addition, RXR, the town’s designated master developer for the Transit-Oriented Development project on Railroad Avenue submitted a $$5.3 million funding proposal, as did Riverhead Free Library ($55,000 for a new pedestrian entry) and Wayne Steck, developer of the Landmark of Riverhead mixed-use building on the site of the former West Marine store. Steck is seeking $1 million in funding to convert the south parking lot entry roadway that runs between his building and Luchacubano into a pedestrian-only plaza.

The proposals submitted total $17,655,000.

In its DRI application to the state, the town also sought funding for floodplain mitigation projects downtown as well as funding to construct a public parking garage near the railroad station.

Jeannette Rausch, the N.Y. Department of State official who oversees the DRI program for New York City and Long Island, said during today’s meeting of the Local Planning Committee that parking garages are not eligible for DRI funding.

Rausch said the Local Planning Committee should ultimately submit proposals totaling more than Riverhead’s $10 million DRI grant award. “We want you to have more than 10M worth of projects, because I can guarantee that some of these will not go forward,” Rausch said.

“Ideally, I’d like to see more projects” than the seven submitted to the LPC in response to the open call, Rausch said.

Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar, who co-chairs the LPC with former Greenport Mayor Dave Kapell, said the town is happy with the number of responses.

“Seven proposals were submitted and this is a fair amount.” Aguiar said. “We have an additional three other town projects pending — Osborn, flood mitigation and TOD [Transit-Oriented Development.] I asked for the proposals today from the state,” she said. “I was surprised they informed me the submissions will become part of the process. I ask, how are we able to make informed decisions on the town square without knowing what projects are out there? I will formally make a request,” Aguiar said.

Rausch said at today’s meeting the “next step is really to look at each of these projects and make them as strong as possible. If there’s components that really aren’t eligible, to take them out. If there’s ways to enhance them or merge them with others or expand on them, to look at that. We’re not at this point looking to eliminate projects,” Rausch said.

“We’re still working on some of the outlines of the town’s projects as well,” Rausch said, citing pedestrian improvements in particular.

She asked the Local Planning Committee members for feedback, especially if there were any projects they were surprised did not get submitted. New proposals can still be considered, but not for much longer. “We don’t want to get too late in the process to be talking about new projects,” Rausch said. “We’re trying to wrap this up by early July.” She said there would not be another open call for proposals for that reason.

Also at today’s meeting, the consultants hired by the state to assist the Local Planning Committee develop Riverhead’s strategic plan, led by Eric Fang, principal at Perkins Eastman, a national planning and design firm, reviewed the downtown profile and assessment they prepared, outlining key socioeconomic characteristics of the DRI project area: population, income, race & ethnicity, housing market and commercial market.

LPC co-chairperson David Kapell challenged the consultant’s number for median household income in the DRI, which they put at $69,702. Kapell said the Village of Greenport, which has similar demographics, has a median household income in the range of about $48,000.

Community Development Assistant Project Supervisor Joe Maiorana agreed and suggested that the consultants look at the median income in the census tracts that comprise the heart of the DRI area. “The key census tracts are significantly less than that amount of money,” Maiorana said.

According to the consultants’ research, 1,037 people currently live within the designated DRI area, which takes in the downtown central business district roughly from the riverfront to the railroad tracks between Osborn and Ostrander avenues — plus the area around East Main Street from Ostrander to Howell Avenue.

The racial and ethnic makeup of the DRI is “significantly more diverse than Riverhead or Suffolk County,” according to the consultants’ analysis — 59% identify as Hispanic, compared to 23% in Riverhead town wide and 22% in Suffolk County.

The consultants also reviewed an updated vision statement with the committee. The vision for downtown Riverhead is:

• A vibrant, compact, walkable, dynamic neighborhood oriented toward the Peconic River.
• A regional destination that serves both the local residents as well as visitors to the North and South Forks of Long Island.
• A diverse community welcoming and supporting all ages, races and demographics.
• A growing recreational, cultural and residential hub on Long Island’s East End.
• A central location for workers, families and visitors to live work and play.
• A regionally connected community leveraging access to the Long Island Railroad for new transit-oriented development.

The consultants suggested that the DRI area might not have enough open spaces and could use more playgrounds to achieve the goal of making it a family-friendly place to live and visit. They also suggested improving connectivity among the existing open spaces and wayfaring signs to point people to them.

They also reviewed possible traffic-calming measures to make Main Street more pedestrian-friendly, including making the street width narrower, which would slow down vehicle speeds and also result in wider, more pedestrian-friendly and useful sidewalks.