Patchogue community members packed a village board meeting Monday night to hear about a change to the proposal for a hotel in the heart of the village.

For years, the idea has split residents between weighing the economic potential a hotel could bring and the possible congestion concerns.

West Avenue Partners, LLC is asking the village for a zoning change to convert the former Bowl Long Island bowling alley at 138 West Ave. to a Hilton hotel.

Developers for the project presented changes to the proposal during Monday night’s meeting.

James Manicone, of JM2 Architecture, serves as one of the architects for the project. He says the changes to the proposal come after they heard concerns from community members during a meeting in May.

"We reduced the size of the building from a six-story building to five stories,” he said. “We went from 116 rooms down to 96 rooms.”

The project also now proposes 13 apartments, reduced from the initial 16 proposed apartments, as well as 119 parking spots on site. Village code requires the property to have 101 spots.

Nicole Weshausen-Vassett, of Patchogue, says a hotel is needed in the village and one with the Hilton name attached to it makes it more attractive.

"I think this would be a good addition to Patchogue,” she said. “The hotels which we [have] within the next 10 miles, 12 miles, they are not very desirable places."

Neil Starkman, of Patchogue, has lived in the village for over three decades and feels developers haven’t addressed his concerns for the project. Specifically, he worries about how this will impact the residential area surrounding the proposal.

"It's a beautiful building. It does not belong there,” he said. "It's too far into the residential neighborhood. There's parking overflow that they say is going to go to Fire Island, but it's not going to work because the Fire Island Ferry parking lot is full throughout the summer. Then they're going to say the overflow comes to the railroad. That parking lot is full in the summer, too."

Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri has been fighting for 20 years to bring a hotel back to the village. He believes tonight's updated proposal will address and mitigate any resident concerns.

"It is I think what the town needs, what the village needs and hopefully the community believes that," he said.

The Board of Trustees asked the developers to make several changes, including one to address potential stormwater drainage problems.

The board will hear a new proposal for the property during a meeting on November 12 before voting on it.

If approved, the Suffolk County Planning Commission would also have to vote on the proposal.