The Town Board on Wednesday unanimously approved zoning changes that will finally allow a long-envisioned affordable housing and community center project to move forward on Northville Turnpike.
The project, known as Northville Commons, is proposed by the Family Community Life Center — a nonprofit affiliate of the First Baptist Church of Riverhead — and its development partner, Georgica Green Ventures (GGV). Plans call for approximately 80 subsidized rental apartments, five owner-occupied condominiums, a community center, and other uses on a 12.5-acre site adjacent to the church.
The zoning amendments, which apply to the Community Benefits Zoning District, are the result of a multi-year collaboration between town officials and the developer.
“We are happy and jubilant that the Town Board has passed the zoning so that the Family Community Life Center can take advantage of that zone,” said Rev. Charles Coverdale, pastor of the First Baptist Church and chairman of the nonprofit, after the vote. “We are now moving ahead with our project, at last.”
Coverdale and his wife, Shirley Coverdale — the organization’s president — celebrated outside Town Hall alongside other Family Community Life Center board members and GGV President David Gallo.
“After 37 years, this is a good day,” Shirley Coverdale said. “We have a real project. It’s not a vision — it’s a project.”
Gallo said he hopes to break ground on construction in September 2026. “We’re super excited to move forward,” he added.
A long road to Wednesday’s vote
The church’s effort to build a community center near its property began in 1988, when the Family Community Life Center organization was formed. Since then, the organization has attained nonprofit status and has raised funds through an annual gala.
For more than a decade, the organization has petitioned the Riverhead Town Board for approval to build affordable housing alongside the planned community center. In April 2016, at the urging of the Coverdales, the town enacted the Community Benefits Zoning District — an overlay zone allowing higher residential density and community-oriented uses on eligible properties, including the 12.5 acres adjacent to the church property, which is zoned for single-family homes.
In June 2023, after GGV joined the project as developer, the team formally requested amendments to the overlay code to make the project viable. The Town Board worked with GGV on the changes over a two-year period.
What the zoning changes do
The amendments adopted Wednesday modify several key provisions of the 2016 zoning code. One major change is the removal of a requirement that all rental housing meet minimum income thresholds for “workforce” housing — defined as at least 80% of the area median income (AMI).
The updated code expands eligibility to households earning between 50% and 130% of AMI, which project backers say is more realistic for the Riverhead community. The 2025 HUD AMI for the Nassau-Suffolk region is $164,900 for a four-person household, $148,400 for a three-person household, $131,900 for a two-person household, and $115,450 for a one-person household.
The lower minimum income limits also makes the development eligible for federal tax credits and other affordable housing programs that GGV intends to use to finance the project.
The code also expands the types of permitted community uses. In addition to community centers, the district now allows for day care facilities, nursery schools, outdoor recreation spaces, and houses of worship. Accessory uses — such as coffee shops, small food stores, and beauty salons — may be located within the community center or on the ground floor of multifamily buildings.
Other changes include the removal of the Town Board special permit requirement, the establishment of new architectural design standards, a reduction in open space requirements, and a decrease in maximum building height from 50 feet to 35 feet. It also allows the developer to build an onsite wastewater treatment facility as an alternative to connection to the Riverhead Sewer District. The project received a $1 million state grant in July to construct the treatment system.
The Town Board held a public hearing on the zoning amendments last month, before and during which the town received dozens of letters in support of the Northville Commons project.
Because the Community Benefits Zoning District is an overlay district, it can be applied to eligible properties in other zoning districts. To qualify, properties must be at least 10 acres in size, have at least 800 feet of frontage on a state or county arterial highway and meet other conditions in the code.
Increased housing density under the zoning district is obtained through the purchase of land preservation credits. The changes enacted by the board Wednesday incentivize the building of homeownership units, including single family homes, townhouses and condominiums. The developer may build as many of those units as possible, in addition to the rental units. Creating designated affordable homeownership units also reduces the number of preservation credits needed to increase rental unit densities.
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