The Riverhead Planning Board last week approved the site plan application of an auto dealership on Route 58 and a two-lot subdivision of land on Fresh Pond Avenue in Calverton.
The board gave final approval of the site plan application of Riverhead Mazda, granting permission to construct a 21,014-square-foot car dealership with service area on a 10.6-acre site at 1423 Old Country Road, where Riverhead Ford and Riverhead GMC are already located. The application received preliminary approval from the Planning Board on Dec. 21.
The board also gave final approval to divide a vacant, 111.4-acre parcel located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Middle Country Road and Fresh Pond Avenue in Calverton into two lots. One lot is just shy of 14.6 acres and the second lot is 96.8 acres. The smaller parcel, which fronts Middle Country Road, is the proposed future home of the Riverhead Charter School’s middle school and high school campus.
The Riverhead Charter School Board of Trustees last July authorized a contract to purchase the site for $4.11 million. Representatives of the charter school unveiled preliminary plans for the site at an October 2024 pre-submission conference with town planners.
The Planning Board on Thursday held a public hearing on a site plan application for a place of worship and graveyard on Route 25A in Wading River.
The “Cox Place of Worship” site plan application seeks approval to convert an existing single-family dwelling into a place of worship and add a 3,600-plot church yard, along with site improvements roughly five-acre site at 5284 Route 25A in Wading River, within the Residence B-80 (RB-80) zoning use district. See site plan.
Charles Cuddy, attorney for the applicant, described the site plan. “What you see now is all you will see,” he said, referring to a house and garage already existing on the site. “The house will be the place of worship. The graveyard will not be visible from the road,” he said.
Landscaping with 7-foot-tall evergreens will fully buffer the site from surrounding properties. The potential impacts of the application were thoroughly assessed, Cuddy said, and the application received a determination of non-significance under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, also known as a negative declaration.
Sid Bail president of the Wading River Civic Association posed several questions about the application, including whether the site development is being phased, whether the renovation of the existing home will change the external appearance of the home, how many parking spaces will be provided, and whether the burial plots will be owned by individuals or by the house of worship.
“This is basically a chapel,” Cuddy replied. It will be used for prayers when a burial is taking place, he said. It’s not a place where there’s going to be a congregation for people to assemble on a regular basis.” The maximum occupancy will be determined by the fire marshal, he said, but “We understand there can’t be more than 20 people in there at any one time.” The site plan depicts 14 parking spaces.
The property will be donated to a nonprofit entity, principal Daniel Cox told the board. A separate nonprofit will have responsibility for a perpetual care fund, he said, providing for the care and maintenance of the graveyard.
Neighbor James Connolly of Route 25A in Calverton said his home is adjacent to the site. He said the proposal took him by surprise. When he and his wife purchased their home, he said, “We didn’t expect a mosque to be built next door to us.”
“Hearing what’s been said tonight, I have concerns about who’s going to be there,” he said. “It’s one thing if that’s like a small community of people worshiping,” within the existing “small footprint” of the building.
“Now, it seems it’s something totally different. It’s almost like a business, a burial type business,” Connolly said. “So there’s going to be a
numerous people. People are going to be coming in and out. We don’t even know who they are or when they’ll be there. Apparently, someone passes away, and within 24 hours, there’ll be a new group of people next door,” he said. The house can be seen from his home, he said. “What kind of traffic is going to be there? Again, the concern is, you know, it’s going to be a bunch of people we don’t know coming in and out.”
Connolly also expressed concerns about possible future expansion.
“What happens once it’s approved? Will they be able to expand one section?” he asked.
Connolly referred to the Planning Board’s action as a “rezoning,” prompting Planning Board Chairperson Edward Densieski to correct that characterization.
”We’re not changing the use of the land. We’re only approving a site plan,” Densieski said. “They have a right to be in that zone.”
Planner Heather Trojanowski said the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Protection Act, a federal law, states that the town can’t “unreasonably restrict churches or houses of worship. So essentially, they’re permitted in every zone.” The church yard is an accessory use to the house of worship, she said.
A house of worship is not exempt from site plan review, she said. If it wants to make changes in the future, it would have to seek a new site plan approval, Trjoanowski said.
Connolly asked if a traffic study should be done to assess traffic impacts.
“The project is not big enough or doesn’t meet the level for a traffic study,” Densieski replied.
“And based on the square footage, they’re providing enough parking on site, and they also have the driveway that goes around the entire burial ground,” Trojanowski added.
The board voted unanimously to conclude the hearing.
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