Brother Bear Canna greenhouse

Asked the board to make the applicant address the possibility of cannabis odor reaching neighbors, which she said went unaddressed.

A Calverton resident raised groundwater worries — the nearby landfill's buried toxins, a denied irrigation well for Windcrest, and unlimited water use for the greenhouse during droughts.

Read the APZ zoning intent — preserving farmland, vistas and agrotourism — and argued none of it applies, noting she found no evidence the parcel was ever farmed.

Said hundreds of residents in Windcrest East and Foxwood Village will be affected by noise, light and odor pollution and falling property values.

The Greater Calverton Civic Association president thanked the board for its questions, said opposition is large and growing weekly, and suggested the applicant look for another site.

Returned to argue the applicant would seek agricultural tax relief, paying less than any nearby home while the town claims it wants to build the tax base.

A 23-year Northwoods Road resident said this isn't what he signed up for and called it insane that an $8-million-a-year business would shortchange the town on taxes while he pays $14,000 a year.

Argued that if 80 percent of the equipment is industrial — ordered from industrial suppliers at up to 26 tons — the operation should be called industry, not a farm.

Worried about truck backup alarms audible a quarter mile away as deliveries come in and out.

A Windcrest-area neighbor laid out state cannabis security rules — vaults, 72 cameras, 8-foot security fencing — arguing the project is an industrial facility, not a farm, and that the applicant misrepresented the fence's purpose at the ZBA.

A nearby resident invited board members to his home to hear existing road noise himself, questioned whether the sound study accounted for foliage and seasons, and noted no farm runs 24/7 with turbine fans.

Calverton resident worried about 24-28 industrial air conditioning units and a possible diesel generator replacing the quiet of a farming community.

Said far more residents will be harmed than profit, and demanded guarantees her home value and utility bills won't suffer; called the project damaging to the neighborhood.

Calverton Civic Association president questioned the sound study, noting the measured Maryland facility was a repurposed industrial building, and asked for more measurements at the public hearing.

Pressed on whether the cannabis licensee is valid and listed with the Office of Cannabis Management; staff said licensing isn't the board's job.

A retired attorney said hundreds of neighbors oppose the project, citing expected odor and diminished property values, and questioned why a vacant site away from homes wasn't chosen.

Longtime opponent from Wincrest East said filtration promises slid from 100% to 60%, called the noise study apples-to-oranges, and demanded real specifications before anything is approved.

Echoed concerns that land values and town revenue would suffer, and argued an agricultural tax exemption on a $20 million operation would shift costs to every Riverhead taxpayer.

Asked whether the developer ever delivered the comparative reports Chairman Densieski requested from similar facilities, saying the Maryland site studied isn't an identical system.