The Town Board should not authorize the sale of EPCAL land to Calverton Aviation & Technology unless and until the following covenants are incorporated into any contract, or into an accompanying document, binding on the new owners and their "successors in interest":
1) the use of the property be limited to aviation industry related manufacturing;
2) commercial aviation or airport operations, not directly connected with aviation-related manufacturing, be prohibited;
3) casino gambling, games of chance, wagering, and sports betting in any form be prohibited;
4) all residential housing, including supportive housing, be prohibited; and
5) land deemed undevelopable by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at the time of sale be excluded from the contract (approximately 1,000 acres)
Why is this important?
There is much debate in Riverhead about whether the Town Board should vote that the Calverton Aviation & Technology is Qualified and Eligible to purchase the last 1,640 acres of land at EPCAL
However, there is broad agreement that the contract railroaded by the former Board at its last meeting in December is flawed and does not adequately protect the long-term interests of the Town.
Rather than trust in the good intentions of the Ghermezian family, the contract must be modified or supplemented with these five specified covenants to guarantee that if the land is sold to them, the 600 developable acres are used only for the proper purpose and the 1,000 undevelopable acres are returned to the Town.
Such covenants permanently "run with the land," irrespective of who owns it. Deeds that formalize future sales would be obliged by law to repeat these same covenants.
Fund for Reconciliation and Development