Top Gun Comes to Riverhead

The Town Board received another proposal for EPCAL (Grumman site) this week for the purchase of 790 acres to be used for a NASCAR type raceway, convention center, nightclubs and recreational areas. The raceway is a scaled down version of the popular sport and would not be a part of the national tour. The stadium would handle about 20,000 patrons. The offer is for $105 million dollars or roughly $14 million greater than the Pulte Homes plan. The proposal comes from Top Gun Entertainment which has already made a similar proposal for an installation in Yaphank.

The proposal has already generated lots of heated discussion. During a review of the proposal on local radio, the program host suggested that civic associations that have objected to the proposal are always negative and unwilling to accept the reality of the situation. (That town residents face the possibility of a huge tax increase as a result of the landfill fiasco). The host further suggested that comments by a few officers of the association do not represent the residents. This prompted a rash of phone calls to the station many of which objected to the negative characterization of the civic groups.

The nearly hysterical responses by the WRIV host are indicative of the frustration felt by many individuals in the Town. Riverhead residents are looking for some positive signs from the Supervisor and Town Board regarding the financial condition of the township and while many of the proposals made for the use of the EPCAL site are initially attractive, they (the residents) are bewildered by the often negative factors which usually accompany these multi-million dollar offers. A raceway means noise and traffic. A carnival means lower standards, low paying jobs and more traffic. Construction of 400 homes is troublesome to the infrastructure, tax revenue and environment.

The residents are not comfortable with the kind of proposals being made and therefore, are showing a lack of confidence in the Town's ability to handle that valuable property. Professional guidance in the form of experienced planners from the county or state level to determine the highest and best use of the property is urgently needed while there is still time.