“Most extreme land use action”: Riverhead digs in against industrial projects 

Industrial real estate development in the Calverton section of Riverhead is grinding to a halt.

The Riverhead Town Board voted 4-1 to approve a six-month moratorium on industrial projects, Newsday reported. It’s a step further than the Suffolk County Planning Commission’s recommendation for a three-month pause, which referred to a moratorium as the “most extreme land use action” a town can take.

Moratoriums can be extended, meaning industrial development in Calverton could be stymied further.

The moratorium, an idea festering in the community for years, is designed to give town officials an opportunity to update the master plan, which is expected to make recommendations about land use goals, including industrial zoning. It’s expected to wrap up in the spring.

BFJ Planning, consulting on the master plan, recommending a district that would allow for light industrial development and smaller projects in Calverton.

The opposing vote came from Councilmember Bob Kern, who thought a three-month moratorium would be less of a burden on developers. Now, there’s uncertainty for projects that include a self-storage development and a 641,000-square-foot logistics center on Middle Road.

One project the moratorium won’t impact, however, is Calverton Aviation & Technology’s industrial campus proposal for Grumman Boulevard, because it had allegedly been sabotaged by Riverhead before the pause came into effect. Last week, the developer sued the town and two of its agencies, alleging they schemed to cancel a $40 million, 1,600-acre deal that would’ve given way to a massive technology and aerospace hub on the former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant.

Moratoriums have become a more frequent feature of development on Long Island, particularly in the East End. Greenport’s 10-month moratorium in part of the village only recently came to an end, enabling a pair of hotel proposals to be heard in the village.

— Holden Walter-Warner

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