Community use touted for Wading River land

The consultants preparing recommendations to reduce the number of shopping centers that can be built in Wading River have added a few new, minor uses to the undeveloped property being targeted for zoning change.

After months of complaints that there already are too many shopping centers in the community, Riverhead town last summer hired BFJ Planning of Manhattan to study the Route 25A corridor in Wading River and recommend changes to the zoning code to curtail new strip malls and shopping centers.

Supervisor Sean Walter agreed that too much land is zoned for shopping center use, but said that the long and repeated protest over potential development had actually led some property owners to file applications for shopping centers, just to protect the value of their investments.

"This was kind of set in motion by the civic activists," Walter said. "I live there. The bottom line is this: Nobody wants to see the rest of the farmland developed, but unless it's purchased by government -- and none of us have that kind of money anymore -- it has to eventually get developed."

On Feb. 4, more than 300 people from Wading River came to a three-hour meeting to listen to a presentation by BFJ -- Buckhurst Fish & Jacquemart Inc. -- that recommended that 42 acres now zoned for shopping center development instead be used for multifamily housing and office space.

There was extensive discussion over whether the new housing should be limited to people 55 and older to reduce the potential impact of increased school enrollment, which would lead to higher school taxes.

The discussion was repeated Tuesday night in Riverhead Town Hall, first at an informal question-and-answer session by BFJ and later at a formal presentation to the town board.

Frank Fish, a partner in BFJ, suggested a few added uses for the rezoned property, including public libraries and museums, fire houses and police stations, and schools, community centers and houses of worship.

Not everyone was happy. Dominique Mendez, president of the Riverhead Neighborhood Preservation Coalition and a Wading River resident, said planners had put too much land in multifamily use, adding 17 acres now zoned residential for that purpose. "I'd like that 17 acres back," she said.

Ken Barra -- who operates a catering hall in Wading River and owns several other properties -- said he has owned one parcel for years, waiting for the right time to build a restaurant on it, which is legal under current zoning. "I'd like to build a nice family restaurant there. Why can't I do it?" he asked.

BFJ is set to hold a public hearing on its final recommendations in March, and the town could complete a formal environmental review by April.