Riverhead debates Scott’s Pointe plan for drift cars, watercraft

Riverhead’s fight over Scott’s Pointe turned on a simple question with big stakes: should the Calverton amusement site stay tightly limited, or gain room to add drift-car events, watercraft and more? At a June 2 Town Board hearing, Island Water Park Corp. defended its latest application for 5835 Middle Country Road while environmental advocates and nearby residents argued the park was trying to unwind safeguards the town had only recently put in place.

The request seeks amendments to the site plan and special permit for the property, including a zip line over the manmade lake, temporary floating docks for battery-powered bumper boats, a fire-suppression well and changes to recorded covenants. The most contentious change would rewrite the covenant on the go-kart track, which currently limits the track to go-karts and bars other vehicles, so it could allow special events using drift cars. Another proposed revision would replace a lake-use restriction with language allowing sealed, environmentally safe battery-powered watercraft, including bumper boats, e-foils, canoes, kayaks and rental sailboats.

That prospect drew sharp pushback from residents and environmental advocates who said the town had already struck a careful balance when it approved earlier changes less than a year ago. They warned that drifting events could intensify concerns about noise, traffic and environmental risk on a site that remains controversial in western Suffolk. Scott rejected that criticism and framed the park as a family attraction that protects the environment, rather than the threat opponents described.

The history behind the application has made every new request more fraught. Riverhead Town sued Island Water Park Corp. over work done without permits, including the go-kart track and pickleball courts, then settled the case for $50,000 in penalties. The town had sought at least $100,000 and removal of the unpermitted improvements. Before approving the track, the town also required Scott’s Pointe to resolve outstanding New York State Department of Environmental Conservation violations tied to site work done without a DEC permit and to close out its mine reclamation permit for the former mine that created the site’s 19-acre lake.

The state’s final reclamation approval on April 16 ended mined-land jurisdiction at the site, giving Scott’s side more room to argue the property is ready for broader use. Still, opponents pointed to earlier warnings from town and state regulators. In June 2024, DEC ordered Scott’s Pointe to stop using its aquapark and public recreation in the lake, and regulators warned that the track had been built without approvals and could pose groundwater and surface-water contamination risks. With the lake dug into the Pine Barrens aquifer, the board now has to decide whether Scott’s Pointe remains bound by the limits that got it to this point or is allowed to move into a much looser, more expansive phase.