T
he Riverhead Town Board on Tuesday reiterated its opposition to casino gambling in Calverton.
At the meeting, resident John McAuliff said he is still not convinced that a casino won’t end up being another large project in Calverton. He said that he looked over the town’s contract for sale with Calverton Aviation and Technology (CAT), the company looking to buy 1,600 acres from the town at EPCAL for $40 million — along with the zoning at EPCAL and other documents — to determine if a casino could someday be permitted there.
“It’s very clear in those documents that the door is wide open,” he said. “The language in contract says ‘the purchaser shall redevelop the property consistent with the uses permitted in the Planned Development zoning district and substantially consistent with the intended development plan except as otherwise approved by the applicable government body.’”
While CAT officials have said in the past that they don’t want to build a casino at EPCAL, the issue rose again with the news that the Shinnecock Indian Nation has signed an agreement with Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment and developer Tri-State Partners to build a casino at an as yet undetermined location.
Both CAT and town officials have said the primary uses of EPCAL will be technology and aviation, the Riverhead News-Review reports.
Mr. McAuliff said the section of the town code listing permitted accessory uses at EPCAL “is fairly broad and includes all uses that promote economic development.” He said it’s an issue that will have to be addressed because there is nothing in the zoning or the contract that would prohibit casinos.
“I have no interest in having gambling there. There’s never been a discussion about that, and I think people are just trying to fit pieces together just to make it look like it could possibly happen there,” said Councilman Tim Hubbard.
The other four board members agreed and all said they have no interest in having a casino at EPCAL and are committed to trying to bring high-paying jobs to the area.
Meanwhile, on its website, Triple Five, the controlling partner in CAT, put out a call to native tribes in Canada and the U.S. offering to help them build casinos.
It read: “With a clear understanding of the connection our First Peoples of North America have to the land, and their strong desire to create economic wealth for their people, Triple Five will be offering the following opportunities to First Nations of Canada and the Native Tribes of America …”
Among the opportunities mentioned were “development of casinos, residential, commercial and industrial, on or off reservation.”
