Riverhead Town Board to review Petrocelli hotel plans this morning

The public will get its first look this morning at long-anticipated plans for the Petrocelli hotel proposed for the Riverhead town square. 

Riverhead Town Board members are expected to review plans for a 94-room hotel filed by J. Petrocelli Riverhead Town Square LLC at today’s work session.

The application calls for construction of a five-story, 69,738-square-foot hotel building at 117–127 E. Main St., adjacent to the planned town square and East End Arts campus. See plans below.

Plans submitted to the town show the project would include a 116-seat restaurant with bar and outdoor terrace overlooking the riverfront, a coffee shop, nearly 2,900 square feet of retail space, hotel lounge and fitness facilities and 94 guest rooms, including 14 fifth-floor suites with balconies or terraces.

The “Peconic River Hotel” proposal replaces an earlier concept reviewed during the town’s downtown revitalization environmental review process that included 76 hotel rooms and 12 condominium units.

The plan represents one of the most significant vertical development projects tied to the town’s broader downtown redevelopment initiative, which includes construction of a new public town square, flood mitigation improvements and a planned parking garage.

Planning department staff and the town’s environmental consultant identified several infrastructure and operational issues that remain under review as the project moves into the formal site plan and special permit approval process, according to reports posted online with the work session agenda. See reports below.

Among the most significant are questions involving sewer and water system capacity.

The town’s environmental consultant, Jeffrey Seeman, said in a May 11 consistency review that formal letters of availability are still required from both the Riverhead Water District and Riverhead Sewer District before site plan approval can be granted.

According to the application materials, which are posted on the town’s website with the work session agenda and embedded below, the hotel is projected to require approximately 20,000 gallons of potable water daily and generate about 16,568 gallons of wastewater flow per day.

Consulting engineers for the Riverhead Water District said hydraulic analysis is still required to determine impacts on the existing water system and indicated the project will likely require water main extensions. Sewer district engineers similarly said downstream infrastructure impacts and system capacity still need evaluation.

The Suffolk County Department of Health Services also noted in a May 11 letter that no commercial wastewater application has yet been submitted for the project.

Parking and traffic operations are also expected to be key discussion points during today’s work session.

The hotel proposal includes nine on-site parking spaces, all reserved for hotel staff. Guest parking would instead rely on valet operations using off-site parking spaces behind the Suffolk Theater and, eventually, the planned First Street parking garage, once completed.

In his review, Seeman raised questions about how hotel guests would arrive, unload luggage and access valet services without disrupting traffic flow on Main Street, particularly once planned downtown traffic-calming improvements are constructed.

The consultant also questioned how eastbound motorists would access the hotel and whether valet operations could worsen congestion near the Roanoke Avenue intersection.

Planning staff concluded the project generally conforms to the town’s downtown zoning and urban design standards, including architectural guidelines contained in the town’s downtown pattern book.

The project will also require review by the town’s Architectural Review Board and Landmarks and Historic Preservation Commission.

Town planning staff recommended the Town Board schedule formal public hearings on the site plan and special permit applications.

Check back later for a full report on today’s meeting discussion.