Developer ordered to stop work at future 600-home site until permits are approved

SOUTH BLOOMING GROVE − A developer with plans to build 600 homes at the former Lake Anne Country Club property has been ordered by state officials for the fifth time to stop all pre-construction activity at the site until getting required permit coverage.

The developer had cleared trees and started laying road beds to install a pipeline for the village of South Blooming Grove, which is short on water and had arranged to tap on an emergency basis the six wells that will serve the future housing development.

Last month, the state Department of Environmental Conservation demanded that work stop and said the developer had violated four prior cease-and-desist orders since May. The letter stated that the developer lacked permit coverage that ensures it has taken proper steps to prevent soil erosion and muddy runoff from the cleared property during heavy rains.

The DEC acknowledged on Friday that the developer, known as Keen Equities LLC, submitted the necessary paperwork for that coverage on May 24, the same date as the first stop-work order. But officials told the Times Herald-Record the developer can't be covered for stormwater control until the DEC approves three other permits for the housing project, formerly known as Clovewood and now called Divrei Chaim.

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"DEC is committed to holding the applicant accountable for violations at the site," they said in a statement.

Simon Gelb, the planner for Divrei Chaim, declined to comment on the matter.

The housing project, which could nearly double South Blooming Grove's population of about 4,000, was proposed in 2018 and is nearly ready to begin, awaiting only the pending DEC permits. Two village boards finished their environmental review for the proposal in August, concluding four years of studies and public scrutiny over how the housing complex could affect groundwater supplies, traffic, local taxes and other factors.

Last month, vandals went on the development site and fired gun shots into pipes that were stacked for the planned municipal water connection.

Blooming Grove police officers investigating the vandalism found a shot-up pipe, shotgun shells and .22-caliber bullet casings, according to a Nov. 7 report the police provided the Times Herald-Record on Monday. The report indicates that Gelb furnished photos of several people riding ATVs and dirt bikes on the property, but officers said they couldn't identify the riders. The case was closed without any arrests.

Earlier this year, village officials and the developer agreed to connect wells on the Lake Anne property to the municipal water system as a badly needed supply boost. Trustees voted on May 23 to seek stormwater permit coverage to enable that pipeline to be installed, saying in a resolution that the developer has "provided acceptable sedimentation and erosion control," as verified by village inspectors.

Neighbors say excavators have been clearing and leveling parts of the 708-acre property since around February, removing trees and forming roads that lead to the wells. Workers also have torn down empty, ramshackle bungalows that date to the 1940s and used to be part of a vacation community.

The DEC has now prohibited any further work other than what is needed to prevent erosion and runoff. Working without stormwater coverage can be punished with up to $37,500 per day in fines, but thus far none has been imposed.

The developer's request for that coverage has now been pending for nearly seven months. DEC officials told the Record on Friday that the developer must first get permits for the future development's wells and sewage treatment plant, plus another ensuring the construction won't encroach on threatened or endangered species.

They said they reviewed Keen Equities' applications for all three permits and declared them incomplete last week.

In a letter released last week by state Sen. James Skoufis, the Cornwall Democrat urged the DEC to "levy the steepest possible fines" against the developer for flouting its stop-work orders, and to take any other enforcement steps that were needed to stop work at the development site.

"As you know, I have long expressed concern regarding the unprecedented environmental and quality-of-life impacts posed by this development, including publicly testifying in opposition and submitting formal letters of concern to the municipality," Skoufis wrote.

South Blooming Grove, which has restricted outdoor water use since 2019 because of its shortage, has been unable to tap the developer's wells. But the village is pursuing other water-system improvements and got a $4.7 million state grant to help pay for that work, estimated to cost $7.8 million. That funding was part of $279.3 million that the state Environmental Facilities Corp. distributed to 73 communities around New York for water projects.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for the Times Herald-Record and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@th-record.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Developer of 600-home Clovewood project ordered to stop ground work