Hubbard: Four of five Town Board members will vote next week to adopt 6-month moratorium on industrial development in Calverton

After more than three years of repeated requests from residents, civic groups and environmental advocates, a moratorium on industrial development in Calverton is about to be adopted by the Riverhead Town Board.

The board at its first meeting of the new year is poised to adopt a six-month moratorium on new development of industrially zoned land in Calverton. A moratorium is a temporary pause of some activity — in this case, the review and approval of development applications within industrial zones in the hamlet of Calverton.

In order to adopt the law imposing the moratorium,  a “supermajority” of four board members must approve the measure, because the Suffolk County Planning Commission last month recommended limiting the moratorium to three months. 

MORE COVERAGE: Suffolk County Planning Commission rejects Riverhead’s 6-month industrial moratorium, OKs a 3-month pause, over town’s objections

The necessary “supermajority” will come with the votes of newly elected council members Joann Waski and Denise Merrifield and the support of Council Member Ken Rothwell, Supervisor-elect Tim Hubbard said in a phone interview Thursday. Waski and Merrifield both said during the campaign they would support the moratorium, but Rothwell had previously opposed it, citing concerns about interfering with the property rights of land owners.  

Rothwell confirmed this morning he will vote in support of the measure next week.   

“I support this moratorium solely to give us a little bit of time to activate a better TDR program to help our farmers and preserve our agricultural heritage,” Rothwell explained, referring to the town’s transfer of development rights program, which allows developers to buy development credits to preserve farmland and enhance their ability to develop non-agricultural land elsewhere in town.

Hubbard pushed for the moratorium last year, at first advocating for an 18-month moratorium on new warehouse development in Calverton while the town’s planning consultants complete the comprehensive plan update.

He later scaled his plan back to six months, but in January, a board majority — Supervisor Yvette Aguiar, Council Member Bob Kern and Rothwell — refused to schedule a public hearing on the proposal, each citing the effects of a moratorium on property owners. 

MORE COVERAGE: A split Town Board refuses to hold hearing on proposed industrial moratorium in Calverton

Hubbard eventually garnered support on the board for an October public hearing on the six-month moratorium. But before the board could adopt the moratorium, it had to be reviewed by the Suffolk County Planning Commission. On Nov. 1, the planning commission signed off on a three-month moratorium, recommending that the town adopt the shorter moratorium and then seek to extend it for another three months. That triggered the four-vote “supermajority” requirement. 

The moratorium is on the Town Board agenda of Wednesday’s board meeting, the first meeting over which Hubbard will preside as supervisor, and the first with Waski and Merrifield seated as council members. It suspends for six months the  processing, review, and action on any development applications by any town department or board, including applications for use variances and area variances on land located in the industrial zoning districts in the hamlet of Calverton (in the 11933 zip code). It also suspends applications establishing receiving sites for Pine Barrens Credits and other development credits in Calverton during the moratorium period.

Some industrial actions in Calverton can still move forward

The moratorium exempts certain types of applications, which can still go forward during the moratorium period. 

Exempt from the moratorium are applications that are classified as Type II actions under the State Environmental Quality Review Act and regulations and/or the town’s Type II list. These are actions deemed by law or regulation to be without significant negative environmental impact and do not require further environmental review. 

The moratorium exempts applications where a document called a findings statement has been approved by the governing board prior to the adoption of the moratorium, where the findings statement supports the approval of an application. (This is known as a “positive” findings statement.) The findings statement is issued at the conclusion of review required by the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA.)

Also exempt are: 

• site plan applications that have received final approval, evidenced by an adopted resolution of the governing board;

• lot line modifications that don’t require variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals; and 

• applications for commercial communication antennas and equipment on existing wireless communications facilities. 

Hubbard said he put the vote on the moratorium off until after the new members were seated so the measure would have four votes to override the planning commission’s recommendation for a three-month moratorium. Otherwise, even with Rothwell’s support, there were only three votes to adopt a moratorium, he said. 

A ‘clear step in a different direction’

Greater Calverton Civic Association President Toqui Terchun said she is “encouraged” by the board’s willingness to act on a moratorium. The civic group has been advocating for an industrial moratorium in Calverton since 2020, citing the many industrial development applications being filed in Calverton and the need to review their cumulative impacts, which would happen in the context of the comprehensive plan update. 

MORE COVERAGE: Outcry for industrial moratorium reaches fever pitch at contentious Town Board meeting

Terchun said residents were understandably skeptical of campaign promises to support an industrial moratorium in Calverton and next week’s action will show the Town Board has “more ability to come together under new leadership… the capability of being able to follow through and execute — and that’s the bottom line,” Terchun said. “It’s a clear step in a different direction, and it’s hopeful,” she said. 

Changes coming to industrial development rules in Calverton

Meanwhile work continues on the comprehensive plan update by the planning consultants hired last year to replace a previous consulting firm and reboot the long-delayed planning process. According to a timeline prepared by BFJ Planning, the new consultants, a draft of the comprehensive plan update is scheduled to be completed in February. After that, there will be a public hearing on the draft plan and a final plan will be prepared for adoption.  After the plan is adopted, its recommendations must be implemented with zoning code revisions.  

An initial recommendation by the consultants is to create a new zoning district combining the Industrial A and Industrial C districts in Calverton. The new Calverton Industrial district would allow uses in the Industrial C district but not heavy industrial uses allowed in Industrial A, according to the planners’ working draft documents. The CI district would reduce maximum lot coverage from what is currently permitted in both Industrial A and C districts (from 40% to 30%) and would reduce maximum floor area ratio from 0.4 in both A and C to 0.25.  Floor area ratio, often referred to as “FAR,” is a metric used to calculate the maximum square footage of any building that can be developed on a particular property in proportion to the size of the property. The CI district would allow the FAR to be increased to 0.3 with the purchase of development credits through the town’s transfer of development rights program. 

The CI district would also retain the maximum building height of 30 feet currently provided in both the Industrial A and C districts, but would allow a 40-foot maximum building height with the purchase of development credits through the town’s transfer of development rights program. 

For more information, visit the Town of Riverhead Comprehensive Plan Update website.