Sonic drive-in restaurant proposed on Route 58

A Sonic fast food restaurant has been proposed across from Apple Honda on Route 58 in Riverhead. (Credit: Tim Gannon)

Another fast food restaurant and another retail store are taking aim at Route 58.

A 1.8-acre site across from Apple Honda on Route 58 has been proposed for a Sonic fast food restaurant with a drive-through window, along with a yet-to-be-determined future retail building.

The site is located between a gas station and the Riverhead Town highway department yard on the north side of Route 58, and connects to Osborn Avenue. The proposal calls for access to both roads, according to the site plan on file at the Riverhead Planning Department.

The lot is vacant, but is currently leased by Apple Honda to store cars. The restaurant is proposed on the east side of the property and the future retail building on the west.

Sonic, which calls itself “America’s Drive-in,” and sells hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken and other fast food items, is based in Oklahoma City, OK and reportedly has more than 3,500 restaurants in the United States.

Route 58 already has just about all of the top fast food chains in the country, yet more proposals for national chain restaurants or fast food restaurants keep coming in. A Chipotle Mexican food restaurant was recently proposed further west on Route 58, adjacent to Lowe’s.

The Riverhead Sonic application conforms with zoning but may require a state wetlands permit, as there are extensive wetlands to the west of the property.

A new 64,000 square foot shopping center is also proposed on a separate property just west of the highway department yard and east of Hudson City Savings Bank.

The land where Sonic is being proposed is owned by Inheritance Development LLC of St. James, according to town tax records, although the application says they are from Islandia.