Summit Lake Conservation Group Files Second Lawsuit

Summit Lake Conservation Group, with the support of local environmental organizations, has filed a second Article 78 lawsuit against the Philmont Planning Board, Board of Trustees, and Clover Reach Partners LLC, developers of “The Woods,” a 22-acre subdivision which will carve luxury homes into the pristine wooded viewshed above Summit Lake. 

SLCG successfully overturned the Planning Board’s first approval of “The Woods” with an Article 78 lawsuit filed in the fall of 2022. Judge Richard Mott in Columbia County Supreme Court sided with the group and threw out that approval in January 2023. 

Clover Reach, aka Claverack Builders, submitted a nearly identical proposal in February 2023, which the Planning Board approved in April over the objections of its own expert member, a licensed architect, and strenuous community protests. 

“The Woods” luxury development is wildly unpopular in Philmont. Lawn signs all around town display the slogans “Save Summit Lake/Stop Clover Reach” and “Save the woods/Stop ‘The Woods.’” Many residents see houses speculatively priced at three quarters of a million dollars and up as a sign of gentrification and an attack on a beloved natural asset. Summit Lake’s wooded viewshed has been prized by residents and visitors for generations. 

At a March 20 public hearing, residents spoke for 2 hours about problems with the design, particularly a narrow, one-way loop road through the steep hillside terrain that many see as an indefensible safety hazard. The 12-foot road is so narrow that there will be no room to pass a FedEx truck, let alone multiple mutual aid vehicles in the event of a fire or other emergency. 

Residents also decried the lack of a full environmental assessment under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), with the Planning Board requesting zero studies about the impact of the development on the fragile, interconnected wildlife habitats in and around the lake. 

Bald eagles are regularly seen hunting and perching at Summit Lake. Dr. Sue Senecah of the Alan Devoe Bird Club testified at the public hearing that adults and juveniles are visible at the lake and that bird club members have recorded sightings for ten years—behavior that indicates the eagles nest nearby and feed from the lake while breeding. Clover Reach says that a state database did not identify a nest on the property and no further investigation is required; the Planning Board chair, Robert Macfarlane, unequivocally accepted the rationale. 

In 2022, the Village of Philmont published the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program’s 76-page Biological Report for Summit Lake and Adjacent Areas, which identifies hundreds of native species in and around the lake, including many of conservation concern. The report stresses that land development historically increases the opportunity for invasive species to overcome native ones. Clover Reach Partners, the Philmont Planning Board and the Village Board chose to ignore the study.

Residents are also concerned about erosion and runoff due to deforestation. Clover Reach has been opaque about the extent of tree cutting on the hillside. They initially projected a loss of 35% of mature trees, but months later introduced “protective covenants” which would allow homeowners to potentially remove dozens more trees above 12” in diameter. 

At a board of trustees meeting in February this year, Mayor Brian Johnson said the village was not obligated to enforce the covenants, thereby leaving open the question of whether homeowners could clear their lots with impunity. 

No analysis has been made of other native plants or wildlife that stand to be wiped out or displaced by the development. Two species of endangered bats potentially nest on the site, according to the state database. 

The only change Clover Reach made to their Planning Board site plan proposal in response to Judge Mott’s January 2023 decision was to increase the right-of-way around the loop road from 33’ to 50’--enough to accommodate a full-width road, should the village eventually decide one is needed. This essentially kicks the cost of widening the road onto village taxpayers, and skirts the responsibility of supplying accurate visual simulations to reflect the increased grading and added tree removal required to accommodate a road safe enough for multiple emergency vehicles. 

Summit Lake was created when early industrialists dammed the Agawamuck Creek in the 1840s. At its peak, the village had so many mills that the sound of their machinery could drown out the conversation of two people standing next to one another. Though manufacturing is long gone, the village retains its historic footprint, with shells of factories and cement ruins scattered along the Agawamuck Creek as it tumbles from Summit Lake toward High Falls Conservation Area, the highest waterfall in Columbia County and a popular hiking destination. 

For more than a decade, community members have been working to advance economic and historic redevelopment plans. In 2019, as the result of years of community activism and village-wide participation, Philmont was designated a Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) by New York State. This prestigious designation makes the village eligible for state grants to assist with restoring Summit Lake, and redeveloping 17 priority sites identified in the BOA plan. The BOA plan, “Summit Lake and Its Watercourse,” adopted with the full participation of the Mayor and Board of Trustees in 2018, names Summit Lake and its viewshed as key natural assets and central catalysts to community redevelopment. The BOA plan envisions a walkable community with historic features, scenic beauty and a revitalized downtown. 

“The Woods” is at odds with this community-driven BOA plan. The development would essentially privatize the viewshed by turning it into a high-end private enclave, and deprive the community of a treasured natural asset. 

Local environmental groups including the Alan Devoe Bird Club and the Mid-Hudson Group of the Sierra Club are supporting Summit Lake Conservation Group. The Mid-Hudson Group's Executive Committee voted unanimously to make a financial contribution, and has issued the following statement: 

"As the largest volunteer environmental organization in the world, the Sierra Club defends the global environment and supports communities in protecting and conserving land on a local level. We know that housing developments are necessary, but they should be planned to benefit the entire community, not just the developer who will disappear within a few years.  The residents of Philmont have been working for many years to design a walkable community with historic features, scenic beauty, and trails to make nature accessible. They have received $700,000 in state grant funds towards this goal. The Mayor and Village Board of Trustees support the plan. It is unfortunate that the Planning Board has chosen to disregard the impact this development will have on the Community Character of the Village.” 

The Sierra Club statement continues, “Instead of working with the residents they represent, every party now must waste lots of money on litigation. The Mid-Hudson Sierra Club is happy to support the people of Philmont in their efforts to combat this project, which is in utter disregard of the Village's careful planning efforts. However, we regret the need to turn to the Court in order to enforce existing law and regulation."

Summit Lake Conservation Group LLC was founded in 2022 to protect and defend Summit Lake and its habitats–”the heart of Philmont”--and to work on a community level to advance the goals and objectives of the Summit Lake and Its Watercourse BOA plan. SLCG believes that nature enriches Philmont as a community, and envisions a future Summit Lake conservation corridor linking High Falls Conservation Area with the proposed Harlem Valley Rail Trail, which would enter the village at the east bank of Summit Lake over a historic railbed trestle. 

The group is represented by Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP in Albany.