Riverhead considers 18-month hold on Calverton industrial projects

Riverhead is considering an 18-month moratorium on industrial development in Calverton, which supporters say will give the town time to finish updating its comprehensive plan for development and also study potential projects in Calverton.

Riverhead Councilman Tim Hubbard stated his support for the moratorium at the Town Board’s Thursday work session, adding that some of the upward of six pending projects planned for Calverton may not be suitable there.

“The infrastructure for some of these structures is not there. The town roads are not equipped to handle the amount of truck traffic that some of these [projects] are going to demand," Hubbard said. "The fumes, the pollution, there’s so many different things that have to be looked at."

In October 2021, the town adopted a 12-month moratorium on solar projects after Calverton residents said they were worried that too many solar applications had been proposed or enacted in recent years.

Toqui Terchun, president of the Greater Calverton Civic Association, told Newsday on Monday that she supports a moratorium in Calverton and that the town should also consider requiring a cumulative impact study of all incoming projects for the hamlet.

Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar told Newsday on Monday that while she wants to avoid overdevelopment in Calverton, she also fears that a moratorium may trigger litigation against the town from projects that are far along and could be halted — specifically a proposed 412,000-square-foot industrial building by developer HK Ventures on Middle Country Road in Calverton that is currently before the Planning Board. 

“I’m concerned that we don’t want to pay for litigation, pay for attorneys and have to possibly pay for the costs that they incurred, which could be upward of $1 million depending on how far along there are,” Aguiar said.