Zoning and land use

A public hearing on the request to add a catering facility at the former Jamesport Manor Inn was concluded last week by the Town Board, which now must decide how to proceed with the special permit application of property owner Kar-McVeigh.

Owners of pre-existing lots smaller than the minimum area under current zoning will no longer need variances from the Riverhead Zoning Board of Appeals for many building additions and reconstructions.

The town board is considering eliminating the town's longtime ban against drive-thru restaurants on Route 25A in Wading River.

Riverhead Town has scheduled four community meetings this month to gather public input about the future of each of the town's hamlets.

The multimillion-dollar development proposal, by far the biggest private investment in a blighted area the town has struggled to revitalize for decades, is the first major project to come before the town board under the Railroad Avenue Overlay District adopted by the board in January.

Calverton Manor and the Town of Riverhead have signed a stipulation discontinuing the two lawsuits brought by the Smithtown developer in an effort to overturn the town's 2003 comprehensive plan and the zoning adopted to implement it.

A proposal to allow outdoor storage of new motor vehicles on certain industrially zoned property in Calverton has been scuttled, after pushback from area residents.