During a nearly two-hour, sometimes contentious meeting Friday evening, residents of the Willow Ponds on the Sound condominium complex grilled the developers of a proposed luxury agri-resort on Sound Avenue that may soon become their neighbor.
Following a few lighthearted questions about restaurant reservations and discounts on room rates for condo residents, Alfred Weissman, Joseph Grensano and Michael Cohen of Westchester-based Alfred Weissman Real Estate provided more details about the proposed 100-room hotel, its 250-seat restaurant, its pickleball and tennis courts and its indoor and outdoor swimming pools.
Mr. Weissman said the hotel building’s height will be restricted to 35 feet — “similar to that of a typical house,” and noted that Riverhead Town requires a 500-foot setback from the coastal bluff. He added that only 30 of the parcel’s 105 acres are available for potential development and that the remaining acreage would be preserved as farmland and cannot be used for any other purposes. “There will be no tents, greenhouses or container farming,” Mr. Weissman said.
All three representatives emphasized that the resort will feature a relaxed, bucolic atmosphere. “People will come here to have a quiet, relaxing experience and recharge for five to seven days,” Mr. Cohen said. “Walk on the beach, take a yoga class, play tennis, go on our hiking trails.”
Attention then turned to the primary reason for this first meeting between the condo community and the developer: a proposal to connect the new facility to the condo complex’s sewer treatment plant and pay for 50% of the associated expenses and capital improvements.
“We want to partner with you on this because it’s a major capital item and you have ongoing expenses,” Mr. Weissman said. “This can save us the time and money it would take to build our own system.” He noted that the Willow Ponds treatment plant currently has excess capacity.
“In fact, if we partner with Willow Ponds and their [treatment plant], that will reduce the [homeowners association] fees,” he continued, drawing boos from some in the audience. Pressed further about how the potential sewer partnership would impact the condo community, and especially about water flow and pressure concerns, Mr. Weissman said their engineers had encountered similar issues with other projects and had resolved them.
Joan Cear, who attended on behalf of her brother, a condo owner, drilled down on the specifics of the proposed changes to town code the development would require. “In item nine of the proposed code, it says you are allowed to have the type of structures and activities on the farm parcel that, say, Harbes has,” referring to the farm stands in Mattituck and Jamesport. “That’s farm tours, workshops, ‘harvest-your-own’ activities, festivals, crop mazes and horseback riding, regardless of the number of attendees and open to the public,” Ms. Cear said. “And it also says you’re allowed to have six exhibitions a year on the farmland.”
Mr. Weissman repeated that the resort will be a luxury destination with no public events and noted that the developer will be purchasing $3 million to $4 million worth of transfer credits that will help preserve more farmland on the North Fork. The 70-acre parcel was preserved as farmland several years ago by Suffolk County.
“We can’t build the size resort we want unless we buy additional [transfer] credits and preserve farmland elsewhere in the town,” he said, although he was unable to specify how much land would actually be preserved.
“We want to hear your comments … good and bad. We’re here to listen,” Mr. Weissman added.
Asked about a timeline for the project, he said from shovels in the ground to ribbon cutting would take 18 months to two years.
Several Willow Ponds residents whose homes back up against the property line expressed concern about the tree- and shrub-lined buffer. Mr. Weissman said they will be planting more greenery to add to the density of the 120-foot-wide border between the two properties. “We don’t want to see you and you don’t want to see us,” he said jokingly.
When the meeting ended, Willow Ponds Homeowners Association president Bill Wandling said he felt it went well. “I thought it was going to be more negative. It’s all about educating people.”
Mr. Wandling said that he thinks the sewer partnership is a good idea, but noted that more details are needed. “We have to get some numbers from them such as an offer, a package of monthly payments. It has to be run by the company that maintains the [treatment plant], which is Mid Island Environmental, and we have to get the lawyers involved.”
He said that all 222 condo members would have to vote on the plan and noted that it’s premature to explore the partnership without getting the zoning change first. The proposed site is still classified RA-80, which is restricted to residential 2-acre lots that could accommodate approximately 15 single-family homes — not agri-resorts.
“Right now, it’s just a concept,” Mr. Wandling said. “Once we see the site plan, that would have to be discussed. There’s nothing solid to talk about now.”
Mr. Grensano emphasized that this initial meeting was mainly intended to inform residents about the potential benefits of a partnership.
“Our point to the board and the people tonight was the possible benefit, which pre-assumes we are getting the zoning,” he said. “We think this would be mutually beneficial to both communities. Sharing a system sometimes works, but if people don’t want it, that’s fine. If it works for both, even better. The zoning is the number one thing now.”
A public hearing on the proposed agri-resort rezoning plan along Sound Avenue will be held at Riverhead Town Hall Tuesday, Aug. 20, at 6 p.m. A 10-day comment period will follow, during which residents can submit written comments.
Deborah Wetzel is a homeowner in Willow Ponds on the Sound and a regular contributor to Times Review Media Group