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Planning Board deems environmental impact statement for proposed Calverton facility as ‘inadequate’

A proposed asphalt and concrete crushing and screening facility in Calverton continues to face significant hurdles for the project to proceed.

The Riverhead Planning Board on Thursday deemed the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Breezy Hill Group IV to be “inadequate for public review,” preventing the application from moving forward.

Breezy Hill, located on 1792 Middle Road, has filed a site plan application for the 6.683-acre parcel located within the “Industrial A (Ind A) zoning use district.”

According to the Planning Board resolution that was approved Thursday, “the proposal was found to have potentially significant negative impacts on the health, welfare, and the environment.”

The resolution cited a number of reasons, such as potential threats to groundwater and the possible increase in heavy industrial traffic along roadways in an area containing residential, rural and industrial uses.

The groundwater concern is exacerbated by the fact that homes in the area have private wells and public water infrastructure is not currently available.

An increase in heavy industrial traffic could “degrade existing roadway and infrastructure,” according to the resolution. An increase in noise levels is another concern.

Finally, there are concerns for “significant adverse visual impacts to neighboring residential properties” as a result of illegal land clearing by the applicant, according to the resolution.

“There were a number of inconsistencies that just did not seem to add up,” said Jeff Seeman, the town’s environmental consultant, at the Planning Board’s Jan. 21 meeting, where the DEIS was addressed.

He said there were ownership issues and the quantities of both imported, processed and unprocessed materials that were inconsistencies in materials submitted to the town and to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. 

Mr. Seeman said both he and the applicant were unable to get a copy of the town’a 2020 Solid Waste Management Plan from the town. The next most recent SWMP is from 2009, and that document doesn’t permit concrete crushing at all in the Industrial A zone that Breezy Hill is located in.

“How did it get this far if it’s not permitted for use right now?” Planning Board chairman Stan Carey asked.

Greg Bergman, the town’s planning aid, said an interpretation from the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals allowed the use, according to Breezy Hill.

No one from Breezy Hill, which is headed by Sam Stasi of Syosset, spoke at Thursday’s meeting, nor did anyone from the public, although a number of residents spoke at the scoping hearing on the project in February 2020.