Public Workshop for Route 25A Wading River Study Draws Hundreds

The debate over how Riverhead Town should treat development in Wading River took to the halls in a church auditorium in the hamlet on Saturday morning, at least 400 people showed up for a public workshop for a Route 25A corridor study.

The study, being conducted by BFJ Planning at a cost of $45,000 to taxpayers, is scrutinizing a handful of commercial parcels along the three-mile stretch from the Brookhaven border to Sound Avenue, and possibly updating the town's Master Plan, adopted less than a decade ago.

BFJ had already presented to the town its initial suggestions - offering less commercial zoning and more multi-family residential and professional parcels, to allow for something such as a 55-and-over community as opposed to retail space. Though planner Frank Fish didn't suggest any zoning changes immediately after the meeting in an interview, he did say that based on the turnout and response he received on Saturday morning, he would place more impact on attempting to purchase parcels for the sake of curbing development.

"I can't zone a parcel open space. It's illegal," he said. "What I can do is suggest in the plan that the town take a look at the civic groups, and other not-for-profits, to actually buy the land. I'm going to try and put that much more in the plan now."

Dominique Mendez, co-founder of the Riverhead Neighborhood Preservation Coalition - which pushed for the public workshop - said she wasn't entirely surprised at the number of people who came out. The RNPC sent out 3,500 mailers, she said, spreading the word about the meeting.

"We knew people cared, but that doesn't always translate into bodies at a town board meeting. This is why we fought for this meeting," she said. Mendez said 300 chairs were set up to accomodate the crowd, and close to 100 people remained standing in the rear of the room throughout the presentation.

The meeting itself, which lasted two-and-a-half hours, was not entirely different from the "preservation versus development" debate which has raged in town hall - except the fact that a large audience was on hand to voice opinions for both sides, the majority of which seemed to favor preservation, and made their voice heard.

For instance, the following statement from Fish at the beginning of the meeting received overwhelming applause: "What we're trying to do is create a compact Wading River. What we're trying to say is that Wading River hamlet - the retail shopping hamlet - is sufficient in size to meet the eneds of the residents and it may not be bigger."

On the other side, the meeting had its moments of conflict, as a group of business owners and developers occupied one corner of the auditorium. Pete Danowski, a land use lawyer who represents East Wind owner Kenn Barra, called the suggestions a "death sentence. There's no economic vitality to what they're proposing."

Ralph Perrazzo, one small business owner renting space at East Wind, asked the crowd that before making a final opinion, they visit East Wind to see firsthand what they are opposing. He cited retail space offering local business owners the opportunity to hire local employees as not necessarily a bad thing, though was yelled at by several members in the audience and told to step down, which he did.

Barra himself was more frank, adding that between Knightland - a project of his which is being fought in the courts by a local civic group - his commercial properties, and his home, pays over $700,000 in taxes annually. Toward the end of the meeting, after many preservation proponents had said their piece, he earned the applause of the business crowd in the room.

"Listen, I don't have all the answers. I only know one thing - what's going on today with the local businessman, it's not fair. We bought the property. We have the right to develop it," he said.

Barra continued, "We are the backbone of your community. Fundraisers, donations. Of all the different people in the community, the we're the ones who take care of you. We're the ones that support the community. That's the backbone of this town."

Correction: An earlier version of this story estimated a crowd of roughly 500.