Riverhead Industrial Development Agency

Representatives from Calverton Aviation & Technology will update the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency and Riverhead residents on their current vision for the proposed project at Calverton Enterprise Park on Monday, Aug. 7, immediately following the regular IDA meeting. A public comment period will be provided.

The public information session with the Triple Five affiliate will be held “so that the agency and the public can get a more detailed understanding of its proposed project,” said Tracy Stark-James, citing Justin Ghermezian's July 11 letter to RiverheadLOCAL.

EPCAL Watch coordinator Rex Farr, in an open letter to the Riverhead IDA, urges the agency to send the Triple Five plan back to the Town Board for decision, because the application for IDA benefits is premature.

A Route 58 hotel property that has received Riverhead IDA tax exemptions since 2009 has gotten a more than $1.3 million reduction in its property tax assessment after taking the Town of Riverhead to court — and at least seven other IDA properties in the town are poised to follow suit.

Wayne Steck, a principal in the company that developed Summerwind Square, is seeking IDA benefits for a second proposed mixed-use apartment building in downtown Riverhead.

Despite signing on as a joint applicant for financial assistance from the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency, Town Board members say they didn't see Calverton Aviation & Technology's plans for the site until they were presented to the IDA in September.

“This informal forum is intended to provide an opportunity for the CAT team to update Riverhead residents on their vision for the proposed project at EPCAL while the agency continues its due diligence" on the company's application for financial assistance, the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency said in a press release announcing the forum.

Featured letter: CAT has no approved site plan, no zoning approvals, no required permits and its plan has not undergone the review mandated by the State Environmental Quality Review Act. It should not even be considered for taxpayer-funded support.

Editorial: A lot of big projects are heading to the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency for "benefits," collectively millions of dollars in tax exemptions. It's important for residents to understand what the IDA does and why. The agency, which lacks transparency, must do a much better job to provide public information to the public, or it does not deserve the public's support.

The Town Board put the Riverhead IDA in an impossible situation. The IDA should 'just say no' to tax breaks for CAT's massive project. That will put the ball back where it belongs: in the hands of the Town Board, which should walk away from this deal as fast as it can.