Plans for Main Street’s largest new multi-story apartment building so far will be the subject of a Town Board public hearing tonight at Riverhead Town Hall.
The proposed five-story, mixed-use development on a currently vacant 1.4-acre parcel located between the East End Arts campus and the Riverview Lofts apartment building will provide 165 market-rate rental apartments, with commercial, amenity, lobby and leasing space on the ground floor and 155 on-site parking spaces.
The Town Board, which is responsible for site plan review and approval in the downtown Urban Renewal Area, is seeking public comment on both the site plan application and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the developer of the 203-213 East Main Street project.
The site was formerly occupied by a Sears retail store and three smaller retail shops. The buildings were demolished by their former owner in 2016.
The site is located within the Riverhead Water District, Riverhead Sewer District, Riverhead Parking District and the Main Street Historic District. It is within the DC-1 Zoning Use District which allows mixed-use buildings of up to five stories and 60 feet in height.
The apartments proposed include 52 studios, 80 one-bedroom and 33 two-bedroom units.
According to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) prepared by the developer’s consultant, Nelson Pope & Voorhis, the building is expected to become home to about 12 school-age children, 11 of which, the consultants estimate, will attend the Riverhead Central School District. The analysis is based on reports produced by the Real Estate Institute at Stony Brook University College of Business and by Vision Long Island.
“The 11 students are projected to result in additional costs to the Riverhead CSD in the amount of $217,026 per academic year,” the DEIS states. “However, it is estimated that the school district will receive property tax revenue of $346,074 in additional property taxes from the proposed project (at full taxation and based on current tax dollars) – fully covering (and providing a significant net surplus of revenue) the associated expenses incurred by the additional 11 students.”
The developer intends to seek financial assistance, including real property tax abatements from the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency, according to the document. The DEIS says the cost to the Riverhead Central School District of educating the additional children “can be a consideration in the context of a PILOT” agreement with the IDA to offset a portion of property tax abatements with payments in lieu of taxes.
A DEIS is required to identify potential significant adverse impacts of the plan and analyze measures that can be taken to mitigate those impacts. The Riverhead planning department concluded that the DEIS for this project was complete for review purposes in that it addressed the scope of review adopted by the Town Board.
“The analyses in this document support a conclusion that the potential adverse impacts of the proposed project will not be significant and will be geographically localized, and that the potential beneficial impacts will be significant,” the applicant’s consultants, Nelson Pope & Voorhis, conclude.
Tonight’s hearing is scheduled to begin at 6:05 p.m. at Town Hall.
Review the DEIS and its attachments and exhibits below.
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