Moratoriums on industrial development in Calverton and commercial battery energy storage facilities town-wide have the support of a majority of the Riverhead Town Board, Council Member Tim Hubbard said today.
Hubbard’s moratorium proposals, which were met with skepticism and opposition from other board members during a work session discussion last week, would stop the processing of some types of development applications, with certain exceptions.
Hubbard and town planners have argued the industrial moratorium is needed to implement objectives of the new comprehensive plan, including scaling down the size of development and revamping the town’s transfer of development rights program to spur farmland preservation.
Hubbard is advocating for a battery energy storage moratorium in response to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s announcement in July of an inter-agency working group of state officials to identify best practices, address potential risks to public safety, and ensure energy storage sites across New York are safe. Her announcement came on the heels of fires at three battery energy storage facilities in New York this summer, including one in the Town of East Hampton.
Hubbard said in an interview today he was able to convince fellow board members to support the moratoriums after the work session. He said he has the support of council members Ken Rothwell and Frank Beyrodt for a six-month industrial moratorium, and has the support of Beyrodt and Council Member Bob Kern for a three-month moratorium on battery energy storage facilities.
Supervisor Yvette Aguiar declined to say how she would vote on the moratorium resolutions, but said the moratoriums are not in the best interest of the town, parroting an argument she made last week during the work session.
She was also upset Hubbard didn’t speak to her about renewing his effort to move the measures forward — even issuing a press release about it. She said she didn’t hear about it until a call from a reporter.
“He should be discussing this with everybody and tell me what was going on. This is his responsibility,” Aguiar said. She said Hubbard’s decision to issue a press release on the issue today was politically motivated — as the move would likely be popular with attendees of the candidate forum in Calverton — and questioned Hubbard’s leadership and management skills.
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Hubbard denied the press release was strategic and said he just secured the vote he needed for the moratorium after this morning’s work session.
Last fall, Hubbard proposed an 18-month moratorium on warehouse development in Calverton, but the idea failed to gain the necessary support from a board majority to hold a public hearing.
Hubbard announced earlier this month that he would introduce the two new moratorium proposals: one on battery energy storage facilities and the other on all industrial development in Calverton. The industrial moratorium includes criteria for exemptions that would allow one major industrial development, the 412,000-square-foot industrial park proposed by HK Ventures. The battery energy storage moratorium moratorium allows the Town Board to exempt certain projects after a public hearing.
Hubbard said he “firmly believes” the state working group will conclude its examination of the issue and release its findings “sometime next month,” citing a source within the renewable energy industry that he declined to name but said has been in contact with the state.
The state has not released a time frame for the working group’s project, which includes a review of safety inspections on energy storage facilities across the state. The governor’s press office did not return an email asking when the working group might be done with its review.
Riverhead Planner Matt Charters said there has been one application for a commercial battery energy storage facility filed with the town since the adoption of the zoning: a 60-megawatt facility proposed for 104 Edwards Avenue. The land is in an industrial zoning use district and is located along the LIRR track adjacent to a LIPA substation. The developer filed an application with the town last year.
Beyrodt said he supports both moratoriums. “I think that they’re reasonable and I think it’ll give time to get some much needed information to piece the puzzle together,” he said.
He said a pause on industrial development is necessary to implement a newly revitalized transfer of development rights program that will result in the town raising more money for farmland preservation.
Kern said the battery energy storage moratorium is “a necessary thing.” Kern said he does not support the industrial moratorium because of how valuable Riverhead’s commercial taxes are to the town’s tax base. “The taxpayers can’t pay for all the taxes in the town. It doesn’t work that way.”
Council Member Ken Rothwell did not return a call requesting comment.
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