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Community Corner

Downtown Group Hosts Patchogue Pols to Learn From 'New Village' Plan

Trustees say they admire the "bones" of downtown, tout plan which will bring retail, office and residential space to Patchogue.

Patchogue Village Trustees Jack Krieger and Lori Devlin visited the iloveriverhead meeting on Wednesday night at the group's second meeting that featured visitors from other communities that have turned around their downtown areas.

Following the meetings are being held to see what Riverhead residents can learn from other area's successes.

Speaking on the stage at Vail-Leavitt Music Hall, Krieger and Devlin presented throughout an hour and a half question-and-answer format the ways in which Patchogue is attempting to redefine itself.

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The two trustees spoke largely about the New Village plan, passed by the village board in March. The plan includes 291 new residential units near downtown, 46,100 square feet of retail/restaurant space and 18,000 square feet of office space. It is estimated to be a $100 million project.

"Patchogue will never be the same," Krieger said.

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Krieger and Devlin were both quick to point out the aspects of Riverhead town they admired, from to the new Hyatt hotel under construction.

Krieger said, "We wish we had your Atlantis and the new hotel."

Devlin agreed and added, "There is so much potential here. There is incredible architecture, the bones of the type of community they don't build anymore."

Downtown Riverhead is awaiting  breaking ground on a project just a few doors down from the Vail-Leavitt in Summerwind, a $2 million mixed-use structure slated for Peconic Avenue that will combine 8,000 square feet of retail and 52 units of affordable housing.

Krieger and Devlin gave a lot of the credit for the village's revitalization to mayor Paul Pontieri. "He is the number one reason Patchogue has seen such improvement," Krieger said.

The New Village plan, which Krieger and Devlin acknowledged has faced some resistance from residents, was the brainchild of a board that all ran together in village elections.

"We are a board that ran together, but I'm not sure what party everyone is affiliated with," Krieger said. "Politically, though, we're not looking at each other from the outside ... We all want what is best for the village of Patchogue."

Riverhead residents in attendance were armed with questions for the visiting trustees, ranging from how Riverhead can become an incorporated village to why there are overpopulated houses in Riverhead town.

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