Some like the gallop of a friendly horse and the bond that develops. Others like the sound of a go-cart engine that runs on jet fuel, racing around a track at sixty miles an hour. The Riverhead Town Board unanimously accepted a DEIS, or a draft environmental impact statement that is in support of F1 Long Island’s (a go-kart racing company) plans to build a go-kart track on Edwards Avenue in Calverton.

Go-kart racing is, in a sort of comical way, a very competitive sport. Drivers get strapped into a very small and very light vehicle with an incredibly low center of gravity that shoots people around a track. It is a hobby for many people and families and brings people together in a way that a hockey rink can.

But it’s not east building a go-kart track these days, especially on Long Island and even more especially in Suffolk County, and even more especially then that, on the North Fork. Environmentalists don’t like any kind of development and in general, you have to have a really, really good idea that will bring a significant amount of money while at the same time keep the integrity of the area in order to accomplish any kind of development.

But after the DEIS document was accepted, a horse farmer got agitated by its acceptance. For two reasons really: Reason number one is that Robin Gibbs, the part owner of Mil-Ridge Farm, has property adjacent to where they want to build the go-kart track, and reason number two is that he probably isn’t a go-kart fan.

But in all seriousness, she is really afraid that the noise from the go-karts are going to affect her animals. There is a real fear that the horses will go crazy from the noise and have to be tranquilized to calm them down. And what happens if a person is riding a horse and the noise spooks them and knocks the rider off. Who is liable in that situation? These are some real points that a farm owner needs to know about from a meeting like this. It’s the whole purpose of a meeting on these matters. Will the farm go under as the go-karts zoom around? Will people even want their horses at the farm?

And so, Mil-Ridge Farm and its lawyer is saying that the meeting held to approve the DEIS document was held illegally, because not enough notice for the meeting was given. Although the Town did post the meeting on the website, it wasn’t published in the Town’s official newspaper because it was announced just days before it was held, which meant that the Mil-Ridge attorney was unable to attend the meeting to voice their opinions, which gives them some much-needed leverage in this situation.

How does something like this happen so close to a farm on the North Fork? Well the development rights to the property were actually purchased from Riverhead Town from the farm owner so that she could continue farming four years ago. We are talking about 29 acres of a 43-acre farm here. Where is the sense in purchasing the rights “to save the farm” when you are going to use the development rights to put the farm out of business. Doesn’t make to much sense if you ask me.

But we here at Dan’s Papers are problem solvers, not problem makers and so we have figured out some solutions. Some real, some not so real.

Real Solution #1- Keep the racetrack far away from the horse farm. We are talking about 29 acres here. Build the racetrack on the furthest lot of land, away from the horse farm and keep 20 acres of open space in between the racetrack and the horse farm. Have Riverhead own the rights to development on those acres, but sign something that says they will never develop it.

Real Solution #2- Make the racetrack indoors. This way it can operate in the wintertime as well and also make it less noisy. It’s doable.

Fake Solution #1- Have a the owner of F-1 get on a horse and have the owner of the Mil-Ridge farm get on a go-kart and let them race around a track. The winner gets what they want, no questions asked.

Real Solution #3- Have part of the profit from the F-1 race track go to the Mil-Ridge farm to pay for the lost business and the general annoyance of having a F-1 race track as a neighbor.

Real Solution #4- Put super silent mufflers on all of the go-karts or make all of them electric.

Fake Solution #2- Have the owner of Mil-Ridge farm put her horse stables on the border of the race track and get all of her horses to do “their business” there. This ought to bring some negotiating back to the table.