"I think we're in good shape," Atlantis principal owner Jim Bissett said after the hearing. The long-anticipated project still needs special permits and site plan approvals from the Town Board.
Atlantis is proposing a Hyatt Place hotel and banquet hall that would connect to its aquarium.
The Hyatt is one of two major hotels being planned for downtown Riverhead, the other being a Marriott Residence Inn. The Marriott, which would be built on East Main Street in the former Woolworth building, is a joint venture of Apollo Real Estate Advisors and Browning Hotel Properties.
Mr. Bissett said he believes the two hotels could co-exist.
"We'd love to see them both here," he said.
According to town planning director Rick Hanley, the so-called Atlantis hotel, which was first proposed in 2002, needed ZBA approval before other approvals could be granted because the conceptual site plan shows a small number of parking spaces in the front of the building.
The Town Code doesn't permit parking spaces in the front of property within the Downtown Center-1 zone, where Atlantis is located.
The ZBA application sought relief from that requirement, since the parking is only meant as temporary parking for valet service or for hotel guests checking in or out, according to Mr. Bissett.
There are also are handicapped parking stalls in front of the hotel, he said.
ZBA member Brenda Prusinowski said the stalls shown on Atlantis' plans were smaller than required by Town Code, and the approval was granted on the condition that they be made larger.
Mr. Bissett said he had no problem with that condition, and that the smaller spaces were done to allow more landscaping.
The hotel project has already received approval from the state Department of Environmental Conservation and has completed its environmental impact study, since it was part of the overall downtown study done in conjunction with the Apollo group's project, Mr. Bissett said. That study took two years to complete, but can be used -- at a price -- by any applicant within the East Main Street Urban Renewal Area.
tgannon@timesreview.com