Summit Lake Wins Again!!

Supporters of Summit Lake in Philmont, NY are celebrating a second court victory. Judge Richard Mott of Columbia Count Supreme Court has thrown out the Planning Board’s second approval of “The Woods,” a 22-acre high-end housing development in the lake’s wooded viewshed. 

In a decision issued October 16, 2023, Judge Mott sided with Summit Lake Conservation Group in its second Article 78 lawsuit challenging the development’s unsafe design and potential negative impact on wildlife, community character, and Philmont’s unique historic assets.

Judge Mott’s decision upheld SLCG’s contention that the narrow, one-way loop road through the development failed to meet state fire code and was therefore unlawful. Residents in proximity to the development have repeatedly decried the road as a hazard in public hearings and comments. The 12-foot road—essentially the width of a driveway—is well below the state’s 20-foot minimum. The Village and Clover Reach Partners LLC, developers of “The Woods,” argued that Philmont’s volunteer fire chief had authority to reduce road width and selectively quoted from a July 2022 letter from the Department of State to support their assertion. 

However, as SLCG’s legal team pointed out, local authorities are allowed to modify road width only when state code isinadequate. Judge Mott agreed and termed the 12-foot road “unauthorized by law.” 

This enormous win will benefit all Philmont residents. The unsafe road put the entire community at risk in the case of fire or other emergencies requiring multiple mutual aid vehicles—including volunteer firefighters themselves. 

In addition, Judge Mott sided with SLCG in declaring that, following his previous annulment of “The Woods” in January 2023, the Village was obligated under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) to start the review process from scratch. 

The Philmont Planning Board originally approved “The Woods” in August 2022. In September 2022, Summit Lake Conservation Group filed its first Article 78 lawsuit, claiming the approval process was flawed and capricious and describing the development as unsafe and harmful to residents, the lake and its fragile ecosystems. Judge Mott sided with the group and threw out the approval in January 2023, sending it back to the Planning Board. 

At that point Clover Reach submitted a near-identical proposal. Minor modifications included reducing some driveway grades without elaborating on how those changes would affect tree clearing and runoff. At a packed public hearing in March 2023, Philmont residents spoke overwhelming against the development. The Mid-Hudson Group of the Sierra Club and the Alan Devoe Bird Club both submitted letters to the Planning Board demanding it reassess the development’s negative impacts on habitats and wildlife. 

However, the Planning Board again approved the development in April 2023. SLCG filed its second Article 78 lawsuit a month later. 

Summit Lake was created in the 1840s when early industrialists dammed the Agawamuck Creek for waterpower, launching an era of ingenuity, growth, and prosperity in Philmont. However, in the 20th century its many large mills shut down one by one, and economic opportunity dwindled. Yet Summit Lake (sometimes called Summit Reservoir), located just a block from Main Street, remained “the heart of Philmont.” Generations of residents have enjoyed swimming, fishing, kayaking, ice fishing, and quiet enjoyment in and around the area. The Joshua Essig Nature Trail was created in the early 2010’s, allowing residents and visitors an opportunity to hike through the lake’s wooded viewshed to a Boy Scout dock on the eastern shore. 

Bald eagles are regular visitors to the lake, hunting, perching, and soaring overhead. Both adults and juveniles can be seen in the winter, indicating that the protected species breeds and nests close by. Herons, turtles, beavers, muskrats and many species of butterflies and dragonflies inhabit the lake area. Native trees and wildflowers, including those of conservation concern, thrive in the viewshed. Endangered bats potentially nest there. 

SLCG’s second win is a win for all in Philmont who prize community health, equity, and security. In the wake of the pandemic, housing prices have skyrocketed in the Hudson Valley; land—and, by extension, the way of life for longer-term residents—is under pressure. “The Woods,” with houses expected to cost from $750,000 to over $1,000,000 each, will be out of reach for most Philmont residents. Philmont is one of Columbia County’s poorest municipalities.

Judge Mott’s decision sends Clover Reach back to the drawing board. A full-width road means far more extensive tree clearing and grading than in the original design, which itself would have required the removal of hundreds of trees. Throughout the approval process, Clover Reach claimed its houses would be barely visible from the opposite shore because of tree cover. Residents were skeptical of that argument before and are unlikely to swallow it now. 

Clover Reach also suggested rerouting the Essig trail through a traffic median, putting the burden on the Village to cut a new connector to the dock. Given that Judge Mott has thrown out the loop road and the so-called “conservation area” in its median, the Essig Trail now has nowhere to go. 

SLCG continues to fundraise to cover legal expenses for its two lawsuits. The group is more than two-thirds of the way towards its $30,000 goal. On November 12, “A Benefit for Summit Lake” at the Avalon Lounge in Catskill raised nearly $3000. A sold-out crowd celebrated the second win with music by beloved local performers including fiddler Greg Farley, indie-pop craftsman Philip Goth, world-renowned jazz pianist John Medeski, and “Armenian Cowgirl” Laura Zarougian and her band Little Tree. The judge’s decision was announced to uproarious applause.