Hearing tonight will seek input on EPCAL environmental study

The next step in the redevelopment of the Enterprise Park at Calverton starts tonight, when the Riverhead Town Board will seek comments on how best to assess the environmental impacts of its proposed 50-lot subdivision and re-use plan for the former Grumman property.

At the regular Town Board meeting, which starts at 7 p.m., the board will hold what’s known as a scoping hearing on the EPCAL plan.

The hearing’s purpose is to seek input on what should be examined in the upcoming environmental study of the town’s plans for town-owned land at the site that has sat undeveloped. For example, the impact on traffic, air quality, noise, town resources, water quality, animal species and other areas would need to be addressed by the study.

After trying to sell big chunks of the land all at once to one or two large developers, the town now is hoping to subdivide the land into 50 smaller lots and sell those lots one by one over a period that officials say could stretch beyond 20 years.

A 20-page draft scoping document was published by the town in advance of the hearing, as was a seven page “positive declaration” document. Those documents, as well as the public hearing notice, can be read below.

The EPCAL hearing is scheduled to start no earlier than 7:30 p.m. and Town Hall reporter Tim Gannon will be blogging live from the meeting. Come back to riverheadnewsreview.com to follow along and see what issues are raised by the public.

Public Hearing Notice(3) by Riverhead News-Review

Draft Scope(1) by Riverhead News-Review

Pos_Dec(1) by Riverhead News-Review