(Updated: Jan. 14, 2025) United Riverhead Terminal, which operates a fuel oil storage facility and deepwater port in Northville, has filed a major subdivision application with the Riverhead Planning Department seeking to develop 176 residential units on a nearly 300-acre tract of land stretching from Long Island Sound to Sound Avenue.
URT’s existing industrial facilities, consisting of 22 oil and water storage tanks and other buildings on 101.3 acres will remain intact. The facilities are a pre-existing nonconforming use in residential zoning districts.
The applicant submitted three “conceptual plans depicting potential layouts for the development, which includes single family residences and/or townhouses, as well as waterfront dwelling units with garages,” attorney Alison LaPointe, an associate with the Certilman Balin law firm in Hauppauge, wrote in a Nov. 26 cover letter to Community Development Planning and Building Administrator Dawn Thomas.
See plans and application documents below
Each of the plans shows 104 dwelling units on the south end of the site, fronting Sound Avenue, and 72 dwelling units on property north of Sound Shore Road along the shore. Development is clustered in those two areas, totaling about 43 acres, leaving 151 acres for open space, according to the plans. The areas to remain undeveloped consist of existing woodlands and farmland.
The 72 residences on the north end of the site are proposed to be constructed as 12-unit buildings with 12 two-car garages, according to the drawings.
The 104 residences on the south end of the site will be built under the town’s workforce housing code. That allows for double-density plus 10%, pursuant to the regulations.
The plans differ in how the residences on the south end of the site are configured. One plan shows the units as single-family dwellings only. Another depicts them as a mix of 54 single-family units and 25 buildings consisting of two townhouse units per building. A third shows 48 single-family units and 14 buildings consisting of four townhouse units per building.
The property is split-zoned, Residence A-80 on the north and Residence A-40 on the south.
The development along Sound Avenue would be set back 400 feet from the road, according to the plans.
All new development would utilize on-site I/A septic systems to treat an estimated total of 47,400 gallons of liquid wastes per day, according to the environmental assessment form filed with the application.
The development would be served by the Riverhead Water District, the EAF states.
The plans show a recreational area on the south side of Sound Shore Road, consisting of tennis courts, pickleball courts, bocce courts and a dog run area. A separate area north of Sound Shore Road shows a bath house, a parking lot and access to the beach.
Riverhead Senior Planner Matt Charters said today the application is not yet complete.
RiverheadLOCAL obtained the application documents, EAF and conceptual plans through a Freedom of Information Law request.
United Riverhead Terminal Inc., an affiliate of United Refining Company of Warren, Pennsylvania purchased the marine petroleum terminal and associated assets in Northville from Phillips 66 in 2012.
The Riverhead marine terminal is the only deepwater loading/unloading platform on the U.S. East Coast, capable of handling some of the largest oil tankers in use. In addition to the platform, the terminal has 20 bulk above-ground storage tanks, and eight truck loading bays, according to NYS DEC online records.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on Jan. 14, 2025 at 7:30 a.m. to add the application documents and plans obtained from the Riverhead Planning Department on Jan. 12 through a records access request filed Jan. 6.
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