Dems vow to block agritourism resorts, preserve land; GOPs skip forum

Riverhead’s three Democratic candidates for the town board used a unified forum Tuesday night to promise voters they would block agritourism resort development and strengthen collaboration with North Fork farmers — as the Republican incumbents followed through on their promise not to attend the event.

Town board candidate Mark Woolley delivered the strongest anti-development message at the Jamesport Meeting House in the first of three scheduled meet-and-greet events, vowing to vote against agritourism resorts and calling for new leadership to fight such proposals.

“It’s going to be another fight. You can’t have the same town board in there to fight this,” Mr. Woolley told the audience. “You need to go ahead and put people in there who are going to say one magical word: No.”

Supervisor Timothy Hubbard and councilmen Kenneth Rothwell and Robert Kern skipped the event over concerns about Democratic Party officials leading the organizing civic groups.

Steve Green, vice president of the Greater Jamesport Civic Association, expressed disappointment but said the group voted unanimously to proceed.

“They’ve given their reasons in the press, and we’re not here to debate that,” Mr. Green said. “Do we put off the event, or do we have the event with the candidates that were willing to come and meet with you all, and answer questions and let you judge for yourselves.”

The three challengers — supervisor candidate Jerry Halpin and town board candidates Kevin Shea and Mr. Woolley — aligned on several key issues during the two-hour forum.

The trio emphasized working with farmers on land perseveration, rather than imposing top-down solutions. Mr. Halpin called East End land a “precious resource” but admitted preservation wasn’t his area of expertise, saying he was “all ears” about Riverhead’s Transfer of Development Rights program.

“I will create a culture throughout our town that’s attractive to companies that will come into the land that’s available already, so we are able to preserve land,” he said. “A big part of that is bringing the right people back to the table — those people have been sidelined, I believe. We need people at the table that will make wise decisions.”

On downtown development, Mr. Halpin praised staff for securing Downtown Revitalization Initiative grants but stressed the need for long-term infrastructure planning.

“The ship has left the dock, so my job would be to go in and make it as successful as possible,” he said.

Mr. Shea, a retired firefighter who manages a wildlife reserve in Nicaragua, emphasized public safety and environmental protection as top priorities. He said any new development shouldn’t deplete town resources or pollute water, air and soil.

“The [developers] who come here don’t know anything about it. You’re coming to a hotel, maybe a small workshop, and it’s not the same,” Mr. Shea said. “It’s not the rural character we were expecting.

He also stressed the need to support migrant farm workers during “this time of fear and uncertainty.”

Mr. Woolley, meanwhile, called for ending the lawsuit between Riverhead Town and Calverton Aviation & Technology over the former Grumman site.

“Put it to bed and use that land. [The former Grumman site] was gifted to us for a buck, I don’t want to return the dollar,” he said.

He also criticized focus on “pet projects” like Veterans Memorial Park restrooms, saying attention should shift toward other hamlets’ needs.

In all, the candidates answered 10 questions that were submitted before the event.

The Republican refusal culminated weeks of back-and-forth over forum participation. The GOP incumbents had specifically objected to Laura Jens-Smith, current Democratic Committee chair and former Democratic town supervisor, who leads the Greater Jamesport Civic Association.

They also cited concerns about Heart of Riverhead president Cindy Clifford, a Democratic Committee member and former employee of Ms. Jens-Smith, ahead of that group’s Oct. 4 forum.

Mr. Hubbard had called demands to participate in three forums “absurd” and “unreasonable,” comparing it unfavorably to presidential debates.

The Republicans will only participate in an Oct. 16 forum hosted by the Greater Calverton and Wading River civic associations at Riley Avenue Elementary School, citing those groups as more neutral.

Ms. Jens-Smith had disputed the bias claims, emphasizing she would not moderate the forums and describing them as question-and-answer sessions rather than debates.