Polo park proposed at Enterprise Field

After failed ventures involving hotel and casino projects, horses may gallop to the rescue in Calverton.

A professional sports association wants to build a state-of-the-art polo field at the Enterprise Park at Calverton.

An Argentine development firm representing the Federation of International Polo spoke with two Riverhead town board members last week about the project, which would create a large, professional polo complex -- including houses on one-acre lots, fields and other recreational areas -- on about 700 acres of the 2,900-acre property.

The early concept is for seven fields, with one main field. Homes, as many as 400, would be built for purchase by owners and players. The 10,000-foot-long runway could be utilized by spectators and owners to fly in the horses and players.

The Neuss Organization from Argentina presented the plan. The representatives said the Riverhead site would be the first polo field complex owned by the association outside of Argentina. The location is ideal, they noted, because of its proximity to both the Hamptons and New York City, and the runway.

The sport would run from May to October, to avoid interfering with the polo season in Palm Beach.

The new polo fields would use land currently zoned Planned Recreational District. A deal with Riverhead Resorts, which proposed constructing a $1-billion themed recreation park on the site, recently fell through.

The polo association representatives said they will not need to finance the project, will pay cash and can start building immediately.

Councilman John Dunleavy liked the idea conceptually, but said that 400 houses would never work, even if they would be used transitionally and not affect school enrollment. "The housing has to be very limited," he said.

When looking at the plans, Councilwoman Jodi Giglio reminded the group that under the Pine Barrens Act, 35 percent of the land must be preserved. However, she was excited about the idea overall.

"When they say all cash and can close tomorrow, that sparked an interest in me," Giglio said, alluding to other failed projects slated for the town-owned site, including a hotel complex.

Both officials said it would bring money to local businesses, and the panache of having a world-class polo complex would stimulate the town's economy.

The largest portion of the EPCAL property is still being considered for a high-tech industrial park. Giglio said that if the polo deal goes through, she and others would push to have the owners, who head companies such as Rolex and Mercedes, to move some of their operations into the park.

Others have come forward to promote additional uses for part of the property. Motorsports Management Group, based in Kentucky and Florida, wants to run a temporary professional drag racing track on the smaller runway closer to the Calverton National Cemetery, and recently asked the town to hold a sample noise test. A local chapter of the Academy of Model Aeronautics wants to use some of the area for flying model airplanes.