EPCAL environmental study in; public hearing planned

The long-awaited draft generic environmental impact statement for the redevelopment of the Calverton Enterprise Park has been delivered to Riverhead Town Hall.

The two-volume document was delivered Friday, Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter said today.

Walter said he plans to call a special meeting of the town board for Thursday, Aug. 7 for the purpose of accepting the DGEIS as complete and ready for review.

“I’d like to schedule a public hearing for Sept. 3,” Walter said. That’s the first regular meeting in the month of September. The first meeting of the month is usually an afternoon meeting, but the supervisor said he’d like to change the time to 7 p.m. to better accomodate the public.

There will be a period for written comment on the draft document before the board can adopt a final impact statement and proceed with the zoning code adoption and subdivision plan.

The town is simultaneously working on an urban renewal plan for the 2,300 acres being subdivided. The site is in a designated urban renewal area.

Walter said the town closely followed the scoping statement laid out in the early stages of the process.

“I believe the DEC is on board with everything,” the supervisor said. The site contains many environmentally sensitive areas, including an area within the state-designated Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers Act corridor, and is adjacent to the state-protected pine barrens. The town worked closely with state environmental regulators to delineate the developable portions of the site on a map prepared by the town’s planning consultants, the planning and engineering firm VHB.

Development of the site will be accomplished with “form-based zoning,” Walter said. “We want to be able to capture what works.” The supervisor said he believes the town will be
“looking for a cohesive mixed use” for the property.

“I’m very excited,” Walter said. “We are on our way.”