The Riverhead Planning Board last night granted conditional final plat approval to Summerwind Farms, a 16-lot subdivision proposed for a 30.128-acre property at 200 Peconic Bay Boulevard in Aquebogue, despite objections from neighboring residents who urged the board to delay action until pending code violations are resolved.
The board unanimously approved the resolution after returning from an executive session to discuss legal matters involving the project. Before the vote, Chairperson Ed Densieski said the resolution would be amended to add a condition barring additional work before the final plat is filed and all applicable conditions are satisfied.
“Resolved: No further site work shall be performed prior to the filing of the signed final plat with the Suffolk County Clerk and satisfaction of all applicable conditions of this resolution,” Densieski said, reading the amendment before the vote.
The approval came three weeks after Riverhead Town issued a stop-work order at the site for alleged land-clearing and site work without permits. Town attorney Danielle Hurley told the board the stop-work order remains in effect, but said it was separate from the Planning Board’s review of the final plat.
“The stop-work order is not a factor that the planning board should be using and considering when they’re considering the application that’s before them,” Hurley said. “They’re two separate matters that are happening at the same time, and we will continue to address the stop-work order.”
Senior Planner Greg Bergman told the board the applicant had satisfied the conditions imposed when the Planning Board granted preliminary plat approval in March. Those included filing a final plat and road, grading and drainage plans stamped by a professional engineer; obtaining town engineer approval of a stormwater pollution prevention plan; securing Town Board approval for water-main extensions; submitting draft covenant language for agricultural reserve areas and access easements; and providing a draft performance security bond. Bergman said the Planning Board’s consulting engineer recommended a $920,000 performance security bond.
Bergman also addressed a letter submitted by neighbor Ruth Arnone earlier in the day, saying residents’ concerns about clearing, fencing, lighting, property lines, privacy and preservation of existing vegetation had been considered during the board’s review of multiple sketch plans.
The board ultimately selected what Bergman called Sketch Plan 6, which provides access to several lots by a common driveway from Peconic Bay Boulevard, adds a proposed town road and recharge basin, and preserves a wooded area near the south bend of Peconic Bay Boulevard. Bergman said the areas already cleared were areas the final plan contemplated would be cleared for sight distance, the town road and the recharge basin.
“Notwithstanding the fact that there was clearing done on the property that probably should have been done with the proper permits in place, the activities that took place on this property were going to happen upon the approval of this map,” Bergman said.
Residents said the clearing changed the site and further undermined trust in a process already strained by a prior incident involving engineering documents submitted for an earlier version of the project.
In March 2025, the Planning Board rejected as invalid a sketch plan submitted for Summerwind Farms after Barrett, Bonacci and Van Weele PC told the town that a plan submitted under the firm’s name had been altered without its knowledge and that an accompanying traffic report had not been prepared by the firm. The Planning Board resolution at the time admonished Vincent Calvosa, who had presented the plan on behalf of the applicant, and said future representations by him would be subject to heightened scrutiny.
Arnone, who lives on Fox Chaser Place, said neighbors initially participated in the review process in good faith.
“We listened to Mr. Calvosa speak eloquently about preservation, protecting open space, and maintaining the open vistas,” Arnone said. “We took him at his word, and based on those representations, we actually spoke in favor of that plan. We’re still in favor of the plan, just not how it’s going about being done.”
She urged the board not to vote until the legal issues are resolved and the work already performed is independently reviewed.
“We’re asking whether the rules apply equally to everyone,” Arnone said. “The board’s obligation to the public and to the integrity of the planning process, not to any individual applicant.”
Lois Leonard, another Fox Chase Place resident, said she has lived in Aquebogue for 35 years and called the loss of farmland behind her home painful.
“Now I’m witnessing the saddest loss of land yet: the 20 acres of farmland behind my house,” Leonard said. “I’m upset. I’m sad. I’m frustrated, and I’m angry.”
Leonard also questioned how the developer was allowed to proceed after the earlier engineering-document controversy and after the recent clearing.
“He didn’t have permission to do that,” Leonard said. “It now looks like a war zone. Why did he do this? Where was the oversight?”
Bergman responded to Leonard’s concern about possible greenhouses on agricultural reserve land, saying greenhouses are not permitted in the RB-40 zoning district. Later in the meeting, he said agricultural structures allowed on the reserve land could include a barn or fencing associated with agricultural production, but not a greenhouse, tasting room or commercial public use.
Josh Sirefman, also of Fox Chase Place, said residents had worked constructively with the developer and town during the review, but that trust has now been lost.
“Our participation and our engagement was based on trust,” Seifman said. “That trust started to get eroded with the bizarre incident around the engineering.”
“That trust is now completely broken,” he continued. “We have zero trust.”
Sirefman said the board should reopen discussion of lighting, fencing, buffers and preservation requirements before moving forward.
Claudette Bianco of Baiting Hollow also urged the board to wait until the Justice Court code-enforcement matter is resolved.
“You need to stop rewarding bad behavior and stop the developers from just doing whatever they want,” Bianco said.
Barbara Blass of Jamesport said she was “quite shocked” and “disappointed” that the Planning Board “would have so little respect for its own work, the code and land use regulations you pledge to uphold, by greenlighting this application prior to the violations being resolved.”
The town has rules in place to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its residents, their quality of life, and the natural environment, Blass told the board.
“I think it’s safe to say that the residents are tired of the abuse and arrogance of individuals who ask to play in our sandbox, but then make their own rules. It doesn’t make it any easier when we actually know some of these people are from our own community,” Blass said.
“Considering the sordid history of this application, it would seem appropriate that the public has a right to view an accurate final map…which depicts all the amendments and modifications required by your conditional resolutions, including those recommendations from your consulting engineer,” Blass said. “These maps clearly do not, as all sheets of the final plat accompanying your resolution refer to a last revision date of 8-10-2026. This resolution should be tabled until the aforementioned issues have been appropriately resolved,” Blass said.
The Greater Jamesport Civic Association also opposed an immediate vote. Joan Cear, speaking for the civic, urged the board to conduct a physical site inspection before acting.
“We urge you to do a physical site inspection of the area with the plat plan in hand, and to walk around and to go down Fox Chaser and walk Peconic Bay Boulevard,” Cear said.
After the public comments, the board went into executive session with its attorney to obtain legal advice. It returned to open session and approved the final plat as amended.
Board member Ken Zilnicki said before voting yes that he and Densieski had been to the property numerous times and that the approved plan was the plan the board and residents had previously agreed on.
“Has Mr. Calvosa started early without all the proper permits? I agree,” Zilnicki said. [There’s] a stop-work order, and nothing can be done until things are corrected. But we are here to approve the final plan that we all agreed on.”
After the vote, residents asked how they would know when the stop-work order and code violations are resolved. Hurley said the posted stop-work order will be physically removed when lifted and said residents may be able to FOIL any agreement resolving the matter. Densieski said the board could let the public know at its next meeting what the process will be.
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.
