Government

Recap: Board set to move forward with DEC riverfront application

The corner of Roanoke Avenue and East Main Street downtown. (Credit: Tim Gannon, file)
The corner of Roanoke Avenue and East Main Street downtown. (Credit: Tim Gannon, file)

Riverhead is expected to apply for a special Department of Environmental Conservation classification for acres of land along the Peconic River on Route 25.

The Riverhead Town Board got an update from Charles Voorhis of the planning firm Nelson, Pope and Voorhis on the $567,000 Brownfields Opportunity Area grant it received in 2011.

Mr. Voorhis told the board that the DEC was supportive of the town board’s plan to apply for Wild, Scenic and Recreational River community designation for old parcels of land. The designation would restrict certain types of development but incentivize other ways developers can rebuild on the properties north of Main Street.

“They were very much in agreement with the overall concept,” Mr. Voorhis told the board.

Supervisor Sean Walter said he was initially skepitcal that the town could effectively use the brownfield grant for a study. But the results of the plan so far have changed his mind.

“I am a 180 degree convert,” he said, specifically citing the traffic analyses done by the planning firm. The Town Board will vote on a resolution soon to approve the application, which will allow the planning firm to send it to the DEC.

Read a recap of the full meeting below:

Live Blog Riverhead Town Board 08-21-2014