The Riverhead Planning Board Thursday accepted the draft environmental impact statement for a 131-acre industrial subdivision in Calverton, which allows the document to be circulated to involved agencies and made available to the public for review as required by the State Environmental Quality Review Act.
The DEIS for Calverton Industrial Subdivision, also known as OSTAD, will be posted on the town’s website, Senior Planner Greg Bergman said at the Planning Board meeting.
The subdivision is captured by the moratorium adopted by the Town Board Wednesday, Bergman told Planning Board members. But the local law establishing the moratorium will not technically be in effect until it is accepted for filing with the New York Secretary of State, he said.
“It does not essentially move the needle on the application,” Bergman said. “You know, we’re not to the point where we’re making any kind of findings statement or making any approvals.”
Once the town is notified that the local law has been filed with the secretary of state, the town’s review will cease. Involved agencies, such as the State Department of Transportation, can still continue their review and submit comments on the DEIS to the town, he said, but once the local law takes effect, the town will not review the application further during the six-month moratorium period.
The town’s moratorium law by its terms supersedes the State Environmental Quality Review Act, so timelines for review of the DEIS and holding a public hearing on the DEIS are “tolled” by the moratorium, Town Attorney Erik Howard said in a phone interview Friday. SEQRA states that if a public hearing is held on the DEIS, which is optional at the town’s discretion, it must be held within 60 days of accepting the DEIS. That clock would start ticking again after the moratorium expires, according to the town attorney.
The subdivision site is located on Middle Country Road immediately west of Splish Splash Water Park, opposite the lavender farm, and extends south to the Long Island Expressway. Proposed access to the site would be from Middle Country Road. Approximately 86 acres of the site is an active sod farm. There is also an undeveloped wooded area in the southeast corner of the property.
Most of the site, just under 117 acres, is located in the Industrial A zoning use district. Fourteen acres on the southern end of the site, adjacent to the Long Island Expressway, is located in the Riverfront Corridor zoning use district.
The town hired, at the applicant’s expense, Sam Schwartz, a multidisciplinary consulting firm with special expertise in traffic issues, to assist the planning board with review of the application and the DEIS. The consultants assisted with the scoping statement, the document that “scopes” the issues to be addressed in the impact statement and reviewed the DEIS first submitted by the applicant last summer. The Planning Board rejected that document and, with the assistance of Sam Schwartz, prepared a list of deficiencies. The applicant submitted a revised DEIS in November. SEQRA allows the lead reviewing agency 30 days to accept or reject the document as adequate for review. The consultants will review the revised DEIS and submit substantive comments on the document, Bergman said Thursday night.
The town has no way of knowing when the moratorium local law will be filed by the secretary of state, the town attorney said.
“It usually takes about a month to get a letter back from the state confirming that it’s been filed,” Howard said. “The letter will state the date it was filed.” The moratorium will be effective as of that date.
Minor subdivision of industrial land in Calverton is set for public hearing
The Planning Board last night also took action on a two-lot subdivision of approximately 52 acres in the Industrial A zoning district off Edwards Avenue.
The site is owned by DiLalio Sod Farm, which will retain the smaller (16.2 acre) lot. The other lot, approximately 35.8 acres, will be made part of the Riverhead Solar 2 project. Riverhead Solar 2 is a proposed 36 MW commercial solar energy facility on 275 acres spanning Edwards Avenue in Calverton. The State Office of Renewable Energy Siting issued a final siting permit to the developer in June 2021.
The subdivision is exempt from the moratorium because it is a minor subdivision, the town attorney said Friday.
The Planning Board scheduled a public hearing on the subdivision for Thursday, Feb. 1 at 6 p.m.
Four-lot residential subdivision set for Feb. 1 public hearing
The board also scheduled a Feb. 1 public hearing on the minor subdivision application of Theodora Cohen, who seeks to subdivide two contiguous lots into four lots. The property is located at 761 and 767 East Main Street, in the Downtown Center 3 zoning district. That hearing is also scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
Chairperson: “Everyone’s opinion is important.”
Newly appointed Planning Board Chairperson Ed Densieski, former vice chairperson of the board, presided over his first meeting as chairperson Thursday. He opened the meeting by thanking the Town Board for having confidence in him to be the chairperson of the board. He welcomed the board’s new member, Ken Zilnicki, who attended his first meeting.
Densieksi reminded everyone that the role of the planning board is to review site plans and subdivisions. “We do not make policy,” he said.
“We invite all the public to participate. We will listen to everyone. That being said, one thing that will not be tolerated in any way, shape or form is disrespect or mocking of any speaker at the podium,” Densieski said. “Everyone’s opinion is important,” he said.
“I was inspired by Supervisor Hubbard’s inaugural speech,” Densieski said. “He speaks of transparency, civility and action. Let us follow suit.”
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