Triple Five

If the State of New York and the billionaire-backed Shinnecock/Seminole partnership decide to develop a casino at EPCAL, will Riverhead have anything to say about it?

An eight-lot subdivision that will allow the Town of Riverhead Community Development Agency to sell 1,644 acres of vacant land at the Calverton Enterprise Park gained preliminary approval today from the Riverhead Planning Board.

Calverton Aviation and Technology has given Riverhead Town notice of its intention to proceed to closing.

A German company that sold a $147,000 embroidery machine to Luminati Aerospace has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the Calverton company failed to make nearly $100,000 in payments owed and seeking a money judgment and recovery of the machinery.

Riverhead will retain new outside legal counsel to advise the town about its options in the Calverton land deal in light of the legal troubles of Luminati Aerospace, a principal in the deal and the centerpiece of the purchaser’s development plan for the site.

Luminati Aerospace owes the Town of Riverhead tens of thousands of dollars in past-due runway rent, false alarm fees and real property taxes, according to Riverhead Town records.

The proposed eight-lot subdivision of the town’s vacant land within the Calverton Enterprise Park will be the subject of a public hearing before the Riverhead Planning Board on May 2.

Riverhead is selling 1,643 acres of vacant land to a Triple Five affiliate for $40 million. How much can actually be built on won’t be known until long after the deal closes, the town’s legal counsel told the town board Thursday.

Former Riverhead councilman and deputy supervisor Chris Kent — the ex-husband of Councilwoman Catherine Kent — has been retained by Triple Five, the company in contract to buy more than 1,600 acres of vacant land at the Calverton Enterprise Park.

Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith said she asked the company to replace Bienenstock after RiverheadLOCAL’s report on a New Jersey court ruling that found Bienenstock ‘intentionally defrauded’ the buyer in a real estate deal.