Downtown apartments

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 five-story, mixed use building at 203-213 East Main Street, proposed by applicant Robert Muchnick, owner of Metro Group Properties of Long Island, has “changed significantly." since last presented, said town planners, who advocate starting the environmental review process from scratch.

A proposed five-story, 37-unit apartment building on Osborn Avenue and Court Street drew criticism from Riverhead Free Library, Riverhead Central School District and others at a town board public hearing Tuesday.

Riverhead Town needs to more closely review applications for multistory apartment buildings instead of fast-tracking their approvals. Guess column by former supervisor Laura Jens-Smith.

The proposed four-story apartment building approved by the town board last week will be built on the site of the circa 1855 home of a Riverhead blacksmith, most recently occupied as a Subway restaurant. Photo Denise Civiletti

Huntington developer G2D Group is proposing 36 one- and two-bedroom, market-rate rental apartments and 37 parking spaces.

A forum on Main Street zoning might not sound like something that would draw a crowd on a bitter cold winter night. But it did.

Sure, you can hope developers will scale back plans. And yes, you can use the environmental review process to make sure they demonstrate their proposals will mitigate adverse impacts. But hoping and SEQRA will only go so far. You are a legislative body. DO SOMETHING about it.

Two more apartment proposals now under review would essentially double the number of apartments already built or under construction on Main Street. The two new projects would require 293 parking spaces, which downtown cannot absorb, according to the town's head planner, who urged the board to act on a proposed code change requiring developers to provide on-site parking.

Developers of Peconic Crossing in downtown Riverhead are readying 45 new workforce housing apartments for rental. The units will be available to tenants who meet income limits, with preference given to artists.