It’s late July, and the rhythm of rural life up and down Sound Avenue in Riverhead rises to a crescendo. Tomatoes swell and blush, fruit pies fly off wooden stand shelves, a tractor digs the earth to plant cold-weather crops. Generations of families have plowed the fields along the 13-mile highway, producing staples from cauliflower and potatoes to pumpkins and apples, some selling their wares at local farmstands.
Over the years, agritourism, aimed at keeping farms profitable and preserving open space, has boomed through pick-your-own fields, corn mazes and festivals. But visitors seeking to spend the night would be out of luck, as there are no inns or hotels along Sound Avenue. Now, though, the town is considering a zoning change to allow construction of luxury hotels on the north side of Sound Avenue, a move that could alter the town's rural landscape and challenge the future of farming.
Town officials say the measure will grow the town's tax base, but it has ignited debates over traffic, noise and environmental impacts — and raised existential questions about the North Fork's identity even as neighboring Southold took another approach recently by approving a temporary pause on new hotels. A public forum on the proposal is set for Sept. 18 at 6 p.
m., after town officials canceled a Tuesday hearing "in response to an unusually high volume" of opposition, Supervisor Tim Hubbard said Thursday. By town estimates, Riverhead has 7,000 acres of open space, or developable farml.