Riverhead Town Board members Tuesday approved part of Island Water Park’s latest request to amend its Scott’s Pointe site plan, allowing new attractions on the man-made lake, while rejecting a proposed change to restrictions on the park’s go-kart track.
The board voted unanimously to issue a negative declaration under the State Environmental Quality Review Act and grant preliminary site plan approval for a zipline across the lake, temporary floating docks for battery-powered bumper boats, amended covenant language allowing battery-powered motorized watercraft on the lake and a fire suppression well.
But the board denied the Calverton amusement park’s request to amend covenants and restrictions governing the go-kart track.
The vote leaves in place the existing track restrictions, which limit use of the track to go-karts, unless and until the applicant prepares an environmental impact statement for the removal of the covenant language, according to the resolution adopted Tuesday. The applicant sought the ability to hold automobile drifting events on the track, a use that required changes to the filed covenant.
The site plan amendment application concerned Scott’s Pointe, operated by Island Water Park at 5835 Middle Country Road in Calverton. The property is located in the Planned Recreational Park zoning district and within the Calverton Enterprise Park urban renewal area, giving site plan review authority to the Town Board.
More coverage: Riverhead weighs lifting go-kart-only, motorized boat restrictions at Scott’s Pointe (April 17, 2026)
The track restriction was imposed as part of a conditioned negative declaration issued by the Town Board in March 2025, when the board previously approved existing changes at the park, including the addition of the go-kart track.
More coverage: Riverhead gives final site plan approval to Scott’s Pointe go-kart track (June 18, 2025)
Tuesday’s resolution says any application to amend the track restrictions to include drifting or the use of vehicles other than go-karts must undergo environmental review under SEQRA to address impacts related to the earlier conditioned negative declaration.
Tuesday’s vote followed a contentious June 2 public hearing, where environmental advocates and several residents urged the board to reject the proposed changes, warning that the application would weaken restrictions the board relied on when it approved an earlier amendment for the park last year.
Island Water Park owner Eric Scott sharply rejected criticism of the application at that hearing, repeatedly characterizing opponents’ statements as “fake news” and saying his operation protects the environment while providing family entertainment.
The board closed the public hearing on June 2 and left the written comment period open until June 12.
More coverage: Scott’s Pointe operator rebuffs criticism of application as ‘fake news’ (June 3, 2026)
The application was not publicly discussed by the board at any Town Board work session, since the hearing, nor was it in the packet of resolutions reviewed at its June 11 work session. It was also not among the resolutions in the agenda packet posted on the town’s website as of Monday afternoon at 4:01 p.m. but was added to the online packet at some time on Tuesday.
Council Member Denise Merrifield, who seconded Tuesday’s resolution, said before casting her vote that she supported the lake-related uses but not motorized activity on the track.
“As I said before, I have no problem with electric on the water, but I have always had a problem with any type of motors operating on any track by the lake,” Merrifield said.
The board’s approval of the lake-related amendments is still preliminary. Before final site plan approval, Island Water Park must submit draft covenant language to the Planning Department concerning the lake use amendment. The language must be reviewed and approved by the town attorney before it is filed with the Suffolk County Clerk.
The preliminary approval is valid for 12 months, with the possibility of one six-month extension.
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