Scott's Pointe owner to pay Riverhead $50,000 in settlement over go-kart track, other attractions

Riverhead Town has reached a settlement with the owner of a Calverton adventure park who illegally built a go-kart track, pickleball courts and catering facility.

Under the agreement, Scott’s Pointe owner Eric Scott will pay $50,000 to settle a lawsuit the town filed in July.

The settlement paves the way for Scott to seek formal approvals for the already-built track, courts and party space at the park on Middle Country Road.

Scott, who last year risked losing tax benefits from the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency because of the violations, is now asking for “enhanced” benefits.

The town board ratified the agreement in a 4-1 vote Tuesday. Councilwoman Denise Merrifield cast the sole vote against the settlement, saying the town should have required the illegally built amenities to be removed.

“People that are bad actors … need to pay a heavy consequence for their actions,” Merrifield, a former prosecutor, said.

Supervisor Tim Hubbard said he was “willing to live with” the $50,000 settlement. “Hopefully this will deter other developers” from skirting town laws, he said. “We’re not just going to forgive and forget. We’re going to go after your wallet.”

Scott also agreed to pay $70,183 for an emergency access road to the park.

The settlement prohibits use of the track, courts and party space until they comply with town code. If approvals aren’t obtained within 18 months, the business also agreed to remove the new activities and restore the areas to their “prior wooded condition,” according to the document.

In an interview Tuesday, Scott said he’s counting on an approval.

“They already cost me my whole summer, they cost me the Christmas season,” he said. “If they cost me the spring again, it’s going to get bad.”

The 42-acre facility opened in late 2023 with indoor and outdoor recreation activities including rock climbing, surfing and an obstacle course in a human-made lake.

Town code enforcement officers cited the business in early June for the unlawfully built go-kart track and pickleball court after town planners discovered social media posts promoting the track.

The video post showed cars on the asphalt track “speeding and drifting” in an area shown to be wooded on an approved site plan, the town alleged in the lawsuit. 

In August, an attorney for Scott pleaded guilty on his behalf to several violations in town Justice Court, and Scott was ordered to pay $5,700, the maximum town fine. Meanwhile, the town pursued legal action in Suffolk Supreme Court, seeking $100,000 in fines and a court order to remove the asphalt track and courts.

Scott filed an amended site plan application in July and was charged double, $26,293, for the application since work was done without approvals, according to town planning officials.

A public hearing on the new site plan is set for Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. at Riverhead Town Hall.

The company said it “requires enhanced abatements to be successful” in a revised application for tax assistance filed with the town IDA last month. It now seeks a 20-year tax abatement period; the agency previously approved a 10-year abatement for the business in 2021.

At an IDA meeting Monday, executive director Tracy Stark-James said she would prepare an updated cost-benefit analysis for the agency to review.

“Once you get the new full picture … you’ll be able to decide whether you want to change it, whether you want to deny them and pull the entire project as an IDA-benefited project,” she said.

The business was also cited twice by the state Department of Environmental Conservation for violating terms of the permit that allowed excavation of the groundwater-fed lake.

A DEC spokesperson on Wednesday said the agency's "assessment of the violations is ongoing, including potential enforcement action and related penalties."

In the new IDA application, the company said it is working to finish reclamation of the lake by vegetating the slopes for stability and expects the DEC to inspect its progress in six months.