The Riverhead Planning Board last week rejected as “invalid” a sketch plan for a proposed 19-lot subdivision in Aquebogue, after the developer’s own engineering firm said the plan had been altered without its knowledge and was submitted alongside a fabricated traffic report.
The board received correspondence on March 7 from Frank Bonacci, president of the engineering firm of Barrett, Bonacci and Van Weele PC, informing officials that “the plan submitted was a combination of several different BBV plans and was in no way representative of the final plan the client asked us to produce,” according to a resolution passed by the board March 20.
The resolution included the text of the correspondence, in which Bonacci said that “the calculations do not represent what is shown” in the plan. Bonacci noted that the plan submitted to the town had repetitive notes and labeling and “the misalignment of lines, contours, etc.” which was obvious, he wrote, upon a “close look” at the plan.
“The traffic report submitted was not developed by this office and does not represent our recommendations. Even an online AI detector will question it’s [sic] origin,” Bonacci wrote.
He asked the board to “amend the file and board meeting notes” to reflect the information he provided.
The resolution passed last week, in addition to determining “invalid” the Summerwind Farms sketch plan presented by builder Vincent Calvosa, on behalf of the applicant, Red’s Adventure, at the Planning Board’s March 6 meeting, reprimanded Calvosa for conduct it said was “a substantial breach of professional and ethical conduct” and “undermines public trust.”
It continued: “RESOLVED, that the applicant’s representative, Vincent Calvosa, is hereby admonished, and the applicant is advised that further participation in this application by Mr. Calvosa will require this Board to exercise the highest level of scrutiny with respect to any representations, documents, submissions, testimony, etc., submitted by Mr. Calvosa, and may require all future testimony to be sworn…”
Calvosa could not be reached by phone Monday and did not reply to an email sent Monday afternoon seeking a response to the Planning Board resolution.
The property in question, located at 200 Peconic Bay Boulevard, just east of the Reeves Creek bridge, is 30 acres, with 16.5 acres in Residence B-40 and 13.3 acres in Residence B-80, according to Riverhead Senior Planner Greg Bergman.
The Planning Board on Feb. 6 approved a yield map for the site, determining that the property could yield 19 separate lots for single-family residences.
Calvosa at the March 6 Planning Board meeting presented a sketch plan showing a proposed layout for those 19 lots that Calvosa said was designed to maximize open space and prime agricultural soils conservation. He also told the board that the proposed access locations on Peconic Bay Boulevard meet or exceed all applicable safety standards established by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
Planning Board members were critical of the layout based on safety concerns about access from four of the lots onto Peconic Bay Boulevard.
The Planning Board as of the March 6 meeting was waiting for comments on the sketch plan from its own engineer, Vincent Guadiello of The Raynor Group and intended to discuss the application further at a future meeting after it received Guadiello’s comments.
The Planning Board did not discuss the matter at last week’s meeting, but Chairperson Ed Densieski read a statement before calling the vote on the resolution rejecting the sketch plan.
“I have a message here from the Planning Board as a whole,” Densieski said.
“We were disappointed to learn that the applicant’s representative submitted documents to the Planning Board purported to have been prepared by a licensed design professional, when, in fact, they were not. We were asked by the design professional to remove them from the record,” Densieski said. “So accordingly, we have prepared a resolution to effect that at today’s meeting,” he said. “It’s not clear whether and how the matter will progress after today…The Planning Board will have no additional comments and refer all matters to the town attorney’s office.”
The survival of local journalism depends on your support.
We are a small family-owned operation. You rely on us to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community.
Support RiverheadLOCAL today.
