Downtown revitalization

Legislation aimed at downtown revitalization moved forward last week in Riverhead Town Hall with the adoption of the “Downtown Riverfront Overlay District” and public hearings on amendments to the town’s existing “Zero Tolerance Zone,” “Alcoholic Beverages” and “Loitering” codes.

North Fork Chocolate Company will open its new East Main Street eatery Monday morning, offering decadent desserts, waffles and freshly made lunch foods.

Town officials are not ready to set aside major recommendations of the pattern book, effectively rebuffing an effort by the Business Advisory Committee to revise the proposed code written to implement the $175,000 downtown study.

Ten months after a public hearing on proposed code revisions to implement the downtown pattern book — the town’s adopted $175,000 plan intended to improve downtown development standards — the fate of the legislation remains uncertain.

Here's a rundown of actions taken at the Feb. 7 Riverhead Town Board meeting: approvals for two five-story buildings downtown, agreement for paintball at the Calverton Enterprise Park, hearings set on codes aimed at making downtown more family-friendly and more.

The developers of a proposed 165-unit apartment building on East Main Street presented their plans to the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency Monday evening.

Why do some people have negative perceptions about downtown Riverhead, — including the false belief that it's a high crime area? We believe it's attitude more than anything. Fixing it requires community building, not banning certain uses and police profiling. RiverheadLOCAL editorial.

Riverhead is hoping to make its downtown area more “family friendly” with changes to town code that will ban certain uses in a new overlay district and beef up the town’s existing “Zero Tolerance Zone” rules, creating new offenses with criminal penalties and increasing penalties for some violations already on the books. 

Riverhead Town today finalized the $20 million purchase of Peconic Bay Medical Center's Second Street campus, which includes three office buildings, an M&T Bank branch and a large parking field. Town Hall and other town offices will be consolidated at the site.

Riverhead Town has been awarded two state grants of $200,000 each that will go toward improve the riverfront and building an amphitheater for outdoor concerts and shows.