The application to legalize an already-built go-kart track and other amenities at Scott’s Pointe amusement park in Calverton does not require a detailed environmental review, according to a resolution on the Riverhead Town Board’s agenda Tuesday.

Instead, the board would impose six “enforceable conditions” on the revised site plan application, aimed at mitigating potential environmental impacts — an action known as a “conditional negative declaration” under state environmental review law. 

The conditions mainly seek to protect the groundwater-fed pond on the sites, according to the resolution, which was released Thursday. They include:

• an amended grading and drainage plan showing that stormwater runoff will be prevented from entering the pond;  
• a requirement that use of the track be limited to go-karts; 
• the identification of a fuel storage area, with spill prevention measures and an on-site spill response kit required; 
• continued groundwater monitoring as required by an agreement recorded with the county clerk in October 2024 (a condition of the site’s prior revised site plan approval); 
• a determination by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation regarding wetlands on site, as required by a recent revision to state wetlands regulations; and
• approval by the Suffolk County health department wastewater management division.

Island Water Park Corp., owner and operator of Scott’s Pointe, is seeking approval of an amended site plan to legalize a 113,470-square-foot paved racetrack and a 13,000-square-foot asphalt pickleball court area, and to convert a 3,500-square-foot storage room on the second floor of its building to an assembly area that the company wants to use as a 250-seat catering facility. All of the uses Island Water Park wants to legalize are allowed uses in the Planned Recreational Park zoning district, in which the site is located.

Residents, civic organizations and environmental advocates have asked the Town Board to require an environmental impact statement for the amendments to its most recent existing site plan, which was approved in February 2022. An environmental impact statement would assess alternatives and identify ways to avoid or reduce adverse environmental impacts. 

Advocates of the impact statement expressed concern about potential pollution of the man-made, groundwater-fed pond at the site, which is within the capture zone of a public water supply well owned by the Riverhead Water District. 

Island Water Park built drains along the asphalt race track to handle stormwater runoff, with drain pipes in the sand bank along the pond, to drain stormwater directly into the water. That would not be allowed by the conditional approval, which requires an amended grading and drainage plan showing stormwater will be captured and retained rather than discharged to the pond. Discharging stormwater runoff to the pond could introduce contaminants into the groundwater-fed pond, according to a planning department staff report on the application.

The groundwater-fed pond was created with the approval of the State Department of Environmental Conservation, after Island Water Park Corp., which was excavating the site pursuant to a 2003 state-issued mining permit, unintentionally dug into the groundwater table. The company had been approved to create a pair of clay-lined ponds for water skiing at the site. The DEC amended Island Water Park’s mined land reclamation permit to allow a groundwater-fed pond instead of the clay-lined ponds that were to be filled with water purchased from the Riverhead Water District, but it limited use of the site to nonmotorized watercraft only.

The Town Board’s conditional approval would also limit use of the race track to go-karts only and prohibit use by automobiles The track, which the staff report said was built last year, was used by both automobiles and go-karts in 2024, the staff report said, citing videos posted by Scott’s Pointe on the park’s social media pages. The resolution requires Island Water Park to record the restriction against automobiles as a covenant against the property.

Eric Scott, the president of Island Water Park Corp., did not respond to an email requesting comment.

The resolution on tomorrow’s Town Board meeting agenda was in the resolution packet reviewed by the board with the deputy supervisor at its work session Thursday, but there was no discussion of its contents. The board has not publicly discussed the application since a Jan. 22 public hearing dominated by Scott’s Pointe supporters who turned out to urge the Town Board to approve the amended site plan legalizing the features built without approvals. Most of the local residents who turned out to speak at the hearing urged the board to require in-depth environmental review.

Jenn Hartnagel of the environmental advocacy organization Group for the East End urged the board during the hearing to require the environmental impact statement. She said in an interview Thursday that issuing the conditional negative declaration is “piecemeal” compared to the review provided by an impact statement.

“It absolutely requires [an environmental impact statement],” Hartnagel said. “They’ve segmented the review, and …moving forward without [an impact statement] just condones all of what he’s been doing there. And it does the community such a disservice, and it’s very alarming, given the fact that that’s our drinking water there sitting on his property.”

Hartnagel was critical of the town classifying the application as an “Unlisted” action, rather than a “Type I” action under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. “Type I actions,” according to the state law, are more likely to have significant adverse impacts on the environment than “Unlisted” actions. In addition, Hartnagel said, the Scott’s Pointe expansion is a Type I action under Riverhead Town’s own zoning code, which supplements the “Type I” actions specified in the state law. If the town had classified the action as a “Type I” action, it would not have been able to issue a conditional negative declaration, because state regulations do not allow conditional negative declarations for “Type I” actions.

Supervisor Tim Hubbard said in an interview after Thursday’s work session the site plan amendment “really didn’t fit the parameters for a positive [declaration].” He said a conditional negative declaration is “a great idea, because it will put some conditions involved on them. So if there are any future problems, it gives us a lot more teeth to deal with it more quickly.” 

Island Water Park Corp. filed the application to amend its existing site plan approval after town officials issued several appearance tickets and a stop-work order to the business last June, citing the company’s construction and use of the race track, pickleball courts and second-floor conversion of storage space without permits. The fire marshal’s office also issued an appearance ticket for the company’s failure to install an emergency responder radio coverage system as required by state fire code.

Island Water Park pleaded guilty in Riverhead Justice Court to the town code violations on Aug. 6 and was ordered to pay fines of $5,700.

The State Department of Environmental Conservation issued a notice of violation to Island Water Park Corp late last June. The DEC said in its notice that the asphalt track and parking lot built by the operator violated its mined permit plan. The DEC also ordered the business to cease use of the inflatable aquapark and other public recreation in its groundwater-fed, man-made pond; the business was not allowed to recreate in the pond while the mining permit used to excavate it was still active, the DEC said. 

The DEC issued tickets to Eric Scott and Island Water Park for violating that notice of violation. The charges are being administratively adjudicated by the state agency, a DEC spokesperson told RiverheadLOCAL. No further information has been provided by the DEC.

The town brought an action in State Supreme Court on July 3 asking the court to shut down Scott’s Pointe until the property complied with town law, order the removal of the unlawfully built amenities and impose a financial penalty of at least $100,000.

Island Water Park then submitted an application to amend its February 2022 site plan approval to reflect the newly added features. 

Riverhead Town on Jan. 7 approved a settlement of its lawsuit against Island Water Park Corp. Island Water Park agreed to pay the town $50,000 in penalties, while the town agreed to process Island Water Park’s application to legalize the amenities. 

The town fire marshal’s office, in comments to the Planning Department on the site plan amendment, said the park owner has not yet completed installation of the emergency responder radio coverage system in the existing building, a requirement of the existing site plan approval. 

The fire marshal also noted that state law requires the installation of an additional fire hydrant if there is an exterior storage area for flammable gas further than 400 feet from the existing hydrant. The applicant states that no fuel will be stored on site, according to the planning department’s staff report. The go-karts require less than 10 gallons a day in fuel, which will be picked up daily in two five-gallon containers, according to a letter from the applicant’s design professional, the staff report says. The go-karts will be filled prior to guest arrival.

While Island Water Park pursues approvals from Riverhead Town to legalize new attractions, it has also revised its application to the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency, which in 2021 gave the project mortgage recording and sales tax exemptions, as well as a reduction in its property taxes assessment for its first 10 years of operation.

Read more articles on the subject of Scott’s Pointe here.