In 1952, the U.S. Navy purchased about 6,000 acres along the
Peconic River in Calverton.
Approximately 2,900 acres of this parcel became the
Naval Weapons Industrial
Reserve Plant used to assemble, test, refit, and retrofit
jets built by the Grumman Corporation.
In the 1950s, there was no consideration of protecting deep
groundwater recharge areas to safeguard our water supply; there was
no Federal Safe Drinking Water Act until 1974.
There was little consideration of endangered species or
unique and critical habitats.
It wasn’t until 1968 that the United States, in order to protect
rivers and their immediate environments, enacted the Wild and Scenic
Rivers Act to protect waterways like the Peconic.
In 1952, we were still disposing of radioactive waste in our oceans,
using lead in paint and gasoline, asbestos in tiles and insulation,
and DDT on our food crops.
But now we know better so we do better.
In my last Dan’s
article, I described the present day Central Pine Barrens
Commission. The CPBC
was a result of a movement to preserve land. That didn’t begin until
the 1970s. It wasn’t
until 1986 that we enacted the Open Space Program financed by the
quarter percent sales tax, and it took a law suite by the Pine
Barrens Society in 1989 to wake the public up to the importance of
protecting the Pine Barrens; our
sole source aquifer.
In 1974, the Navy donated 902 acres of undeveloped land north of
Route 25 for a cemetery, and in 2000 added an additional 1,045 acres.
In September 1998, East End Aircraft Long Island Corporation was
given 10 acres on Highway 25, the Grumman
Memorial Park and Aerospace Museum.
Another 2,935 acres was donated to the New York Department of
Environmental Conservation for wildlife management, and the Navy
authorized the conveyance of the 2,640-acre
Naval Weapons Industrial
Reserve Plant to the Town of Riverhead subject to the condition that the
real property be used for economic redevelopment of the site.
In response to this,
Enterprise
Park at Calverton was
formed (EPCAL)
Recently, Riverhead Town
proposed to change the zoning on the EPCAL property so that it would
be treated as one single parcel of land.
This zoning decides what part of the property remains as open
space and what portions would be fully developed.
The 300 acres of Pine Barrens Core within the EPCAL site is
being counted towards the 35% open space requirement; it is already
protected, and doesn’t need to be protected again.
New York State DEC is now developing a
habitat conservation plan for the endangered/threatened species
within the EPCAL property. There are known sightings of endangered
and threatened species, and species of special concern on this
parcel.
Riverhead Town is deciding what to preserve without
going through the review process.
Riverhead
Town
states that they are aggregating as much contiguous open space as
they can for environmental reasons.
In fact, what they are doing is trying to get the zoning that
gives the greatest flexibility to the Riverhead Resorts 755-acre and
the Rechler Industries 300-acre projects.
They are not making any distinctions about the 800 acres of
grasslands on the property.
This is the largest contiguous parcel of grasslands left on
Long Island; 32% of the grasslands left in the
Pine Barrens.
Included in the
plan for the Riverhead Resorts theme park is a 70-acre artificial
lake, a 350 foot ski mountain, ice and figure skating rink, many
retail shops, restaurants, enclosed tropical water resort,
conference and event center, spa and wellness center, hundreds of
timeshare units, equestrian stadium, “wilderness” resort, and
playing fields. Over
the last week, I have been walking the natural open spaces within
the fence; it appears that other people do so too, judging from the
many holes cut in it. I
saw an endangered short-eared owl where Riverhead Resorts plans to
build the lake. I saw
flocks of turkey, quail, many raptors, and fox.
I saw people catching fish through holes in the ice; visited
an old cemetery with gravestones dating back to the early1800s;
Norway spruce forests, Pine Barrens
lakes and streams. What
I experienced is a robust ecological theme park, and it’s not
man-made.
There is a Pine
Barrens Act that the State Legislature produced in 1993, and a land
use plan that was adopted by the Pine Barrens Commission in 1995.
In the plan, one of the things the Commission agreed to do
was exempt itself from review of the EPCAL property.
They did this because Riverhead refused to ratify the plan
unless the Commission did so.
The Commission has no authority to make a rule that
contradicts the Environmental Conservation Law embodied in the
Legislative Act of 1993.
The Act states that the Commission has jurisdiction to review
and approve all proposed development within the Central Pine Barrens area which has significant adverse
impact on the goals of the land use plan. Since the Pine Barrens Act
requires the Commission to review developments of regional
significance, the Commission is violating the law by not doing so.
The Town is
anxious about the appeal of the decision in State Supreme Court
which held that the Central Pine Barrens Commission is excluded from
reviewing projects at EPCAL as a result of a section of the land use
plan developed in 1995. In January 2008, State Supreme Court
Justice, Paul J. Baisley ruled in a case brought by Riverhead
against the New York State Pine Barrens Commission, that the
Commission lacked jurisdiction to review any of the ambitious
projects proposed at EPCAL.
In addition, the Judge redefined the Pine Barrens Act
determining that “economic development constitutes non-development.”
This would apply not only to EPCAL, but to the entire
Pine Barrens.
Think about that
for a minute; “economic development constitutes non-development.”
The Pine Barrens
Act lists specific operations that do not constitute development,
and thus exempt them from review by the Commission.
One exemption is public improvements undertaken for the
health safety or welfare of the public.
The judge interprets the economic redevelopment of the site
as an improvement undertaken for the public welfare and therefore
asserts that it does not constitute development within the meaning
of the law. The Pine Barrens Society and the Central Pine Barrens
Commission will file the appeal February 10, 2009.
As I see it, the
Navy was incorrect in stipulating that the land be further
developed, without putting any limitations on the level of
development. A number
of Federal laws had been passed subsequent to the purchase of that
property that have been ignored in making that agreement.
You could argue that the property rights are grandfathered
in, but that doesn’t mitigate the potential for adverse impacts that
a theme park that is expected to generate 40,000 visitors a day will
have on the aquifer, the quality of life for the people who live in
the area, the surrounding unique and beautiful environment, and the
ability for present and future generations to enjoy it.
This will further depress the commerce in downtown Riverhead;
negatively impact the roads in Riverhead and the neighboring towns,
and burden other public infrastructure surrounding this gargantuan
theme park. This would not further public welfare.
Supervisor
Cardinale is trying to negotiate a settlement in which Riverhead
would agree that the mistake the judge made applies within the fence
surrounding the EPCAL property, but not to the rest of the
Pine Barrens.
If this is allowed to stand, there would be no legality to
stop the Town of Southampton or Brookhaven from appearing at the
next Commission meeting and requesting that 2,900 acres of Pine
Barrens be removed from the jurisdiction of the Pine Barrens
Commission! All they
would have to do is produce the votes of the other towns.
The lawsuit that
is in front of the appeals court was brought against the Pine
Barrens Commission for trying to assert jurisdiction.
There are five voting members to the Commission:
Suffolk County Supervisor, the Governor’s Appointee,
Riverhead Town Supervisor, Southampton Town Supervisor, and
Brookhaven Town Supervisor.
At the December PBC meeting, a motion was put forth by the
Town of Riverhead. They attempted to get two other
members of the PBC (the Supervisor of Southampton, and the County Executive)
to instruct the Attorney General not to make this appeal.
The Town of Riverhead sued the Pine Barrens Commission and
then tried to get two members of the Commission to vote with them to
get the Attorney General not to appeal the case.
This is a conflict of interest.
Nineteen years ago my friend Bill said “Ken, lets go for a walk.
I want to show you a special place.”
We walked westward along the Peconic River, passed within a few hundred feet
of the eastern runway; we followed the river several miles and then
walked north to Fox Pond, Sandy Pond, and Block Pond, continued
northeast to Swan Pond, again within feet of the airport.
Heading east, we found the abandoned rail spur with trees
growing between the ties and followed it back to a place where Bill
loved to fish and launch his canoe.
Before this pivotal day in my life, I thought
Long Island was all residential neighborhoods, traffic,
and strip malls, but now I know better.
When you know better, you do better.
Let’s not allow this destruction of nature’s own theme park!
Ken Kindler, Natural Open Space Advocate www.LITLC.org
RETURN TO HIKING LONG
ISLAND HOME
