EPCAL Bill Passes Both Houses Unanimously

A bill that will give Riverhead Town the authority to fast-track applications at Enterprise Park at Calverton within 90 days was unanimously approved by state legislators on Thursday, a piece of legislation Supervisor Sean Walter called the "single biggest economic, job-creating piece of legislation probably in New York State."

Hurdles still remain to be jumped until the town can get the green light to stamp projects – foremost, an environmental review at the state level that is expected to take about a year. And Gov. Andrew Cuomo must still sign the legislation to make it official, and a spokesperson said on Thursday the legislation has yet to be reviewed.

But Thursday's passage moved the process along.

Rather than each project pitched at EPCAL gaining approval from state, county and town levels individually – a process officials and developers have said can be cumbersome and time-consuming – the legislation passed on Thursday streamlines that to one level. While at first, a separate authority combining the different levels had been floated to serve as the lead agent, town leaders will be taking lead agent status, and will be required to stamp approvals or denials on projects within 90 days.

While individual projects typically need to obtain environmental approval, the new bill states that if its impacts have been OK'd under the upcoming study, no further research is needed, saving developers time and money spent to conduct the findings.

"You will be able to come to Riverhead and within 90 days get approval for projects. There is no other place in New York State where that can happen," Walter said, adding the obscure New York State Dormitory Authority as one possible exception.

State Sen. Ken LaValle, R-Port Jefferson, said the bill's unanimous passage spoke to the amount of work put into making it happen, even though all sides didn't agree all the time. Walter has been more than outspoken at times about his unhappiness with the Department of Environmental Conservation.

"It finally took a willingness to say, 'We've got to sit down with the DEC, work out a plan, work out a map and let's get down to the business of creating jobs,'" LaValle said, pointing to past plans that have fallen through, from Riverhead Resorts to polo fields to water parks. "It finally took some determination from town government – the supervisor and town board – to say, 'We've gotta hve a plan.'"

Town board members were first inspired to find a "fast track" plan at EPCAL after visiting Fort Devens, a 4,400-acre complex in Devens, Mass. that is owned by MassDevelopment, a quasi-governmental agency of the Commonwelath of Massachusetts that previously served as a military base. The complex had created 3,500 jobs between 1996 and 2011, when board members made the trip.