Politics & Government

Board Looks for Balance in Wading River Plan

Discussion continued on Route 25A corridor study plan on Thursday morning.

When it comes to Wading River's future development, it's a balancing act - and it's possible that no one will end up completely happy.

So said members of the Riverhead Town Board at a work session on Thursday. The board convened to discuss a new Wading River zoning proposal prepared by New York-based BFJ Planning - a study that's been months in the making and was expected to be done by April.

According to the report, recently proposed commercial development applications have expanded outside of the existing hamlet commercial district, with the potential of threatening the character of Route 25A and surrounding open space, farmland and residential communities.

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Highlights of the plan include a "more compact" retail zone in Wading River that would allow for less commercial development and more residential growth, BFJ Principal Fish said. 

Goals, said Fish, are to contain strip retail growth to the existing Wading River commercial district while preserving property rights and development options for private property owners. After community discussion, "The primary message was to try and contain strip commercial growth," Fish said. "We think this does that - it contains it to the basic envelope of the hamlet."

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Currently, most businesses along Route 25A are zoned rural neighborhood business, (BUS CR) with multifmaily residential professional office (MRP) located in the middle of two commercial areas on the north side of Route 25A, the report indicates.

The propsed zoning would call for MRP zoning to replace approximately 16 acres of the BUS CR zone with the MRP zoning, with 24.1 acres rezoned in total.

Uses in the MRP zone would be expanded to include one family townhomes or senior housing for individuals aged 55 and over, as well as a plethora of other uses including professional studios, agricultural production, and accessory uses for ag production.

A possible overlay district on Route 25A could further reduce retail development since it would allow senior housing, Fish said. The overlay district would give developers a choice beyond retail, he added.

Potential impacts of the rezoning were discussed, including buildout. Currently, projected buildout could result in 142,006 square feet of retail and 7,200 square feet of residential development. Under the proposed zoning, the projected buildout results would be approximately 52,534 square feet of professional office space and 97,200 square feet of multifamily, with a reduction in retail space of 140,000 square feet.

The proposed MRP zoning would generate approximately 5 to 8 public school children - minimal impact to the Shoreham-Wading River school district, Fish said. 

Also discussed were traffic and parking issues; the new plan, Fish said, would greatly reduce traffic during both morning and evening hours.

The board also discussed a "spending gap" of $88 million that shoppers are spending outside of the hamlet. Some of that "leakage" means residents are heading to Tanger and other shopping areas on Route 58 in Riverhead, Councilman Jim Wooten said -- not a bad thing. "That's where we want them to come," he said.

Fish said the only a portion of the $88 million being spent outside of Wading River could be recaptured. About 25 percent could be recaptured in retail space on the Route 25A corridor, he said.

The proposed plan, he said, does allow for approximately 200,000 square feet of retail growth; currently there is a demand for approximately 88,000 square feet, he said.

Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter said with , "We're putting potentially thousands of people to work at EPCAL, with nowhere to shop."

"It's a balancing act," Wooten said.

The question, Fish said, remains: "Is there a balance that moves the Town of Riverhead in the right direction in Wading River?" 

"You're not going to make everybody happy," said Councilman John Dunleavy.

The board agreed to move forward and said they would like to declare lead agency status; the environmental assessment form will be discussed at a future work session.

After the meeting, Sid Bail, representing the Wading River Civic Association, said Dunleavy was correct in saying the plan was "a good compromise," but that both the civics and the property owners could be left unhappy.

"It could mean that it's fair, cutting it down the middle and not favoring one side or the other. But it could also mean that it's just a bad plan," he said.


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