Kent Manor is a proposed development consisting of 273 townhouses on 113 acres of land in the Town of Kent, in Putnam County. The project will require construction of a waste water treatment plant (WWTP) that would discharge up to 70,000 gallons of treated sewage effluent each day. The WWTP will discharge into a stream draining directly into nearby Palmer Lake and ultimately into the Croton Falls Reservoir. Stormwater from approximately 90 percent of the site will also drain into the Reservoir. In addition to the host of concerns relevant to any development project – wetland, stream and buffer impacts; disturbance of steep slopes; and appropriate sediment and erosion controls – this proposal raises serious concerns regarding the potential for increased phosphorous loadings the Croton Falls Reservoir.

Kent Manor was first proposed in the 1980s and the original environmental review was completed in 1987. Construction began in 1990, but for various reasons, halted in 1993 and ownership of the property has changed hands. The current owner hopes to move forward with this project.

Since 1987, both the physical and regulatory environments have changed. Most notably, the 1997 Watershed Memorandum of Agreement and Watershed Rules and Regulations require more stringent building standards for development within the NYC Watershed. The Croton Falls Reservoir has been designated as “phosphorus restricted” and significant reductions in phosphorous loading must be achieved to meet Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) limits. For these and other reasons, the project was subject to a supplemental environmental review. In 2006, DEP reopened the SEQRA Process and determined that a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) was needed to examine the revised development proposal, potential environmental impacts, adequacy of proposed mitigation measures.

Hundreds of people turned out to oppose the Kent Manor project at public hearing in 2006. Of major concern were inadequately assessed impacts to Palmer Lake, an important recreational resource for the neighboring Hill & Dale community, and impacts to the NYC drinking water supply. Because WWTPs are major sources of phosphorous loading, the Watershed Rules and Regulations prohibit construction of surface-discharge WWTPs, but created a Phosphorous Offset Pilot Program (POPP) to determine if 3 to 1 phosphorous removal could be achieved by removing other sources of contamination.

The POPP was intended to run until 2002, but was extended for another 5 year period to collect additional data. Kent Manor was designed with the expectation that it would be accepted as the third and last project in the POPP. While Kent Manor was under review, DEP’s POPP assessment report noted the failures of the program and recommended against its continuation, yet this information was not made available or considered as part of the Kent Manor SEQRA review. Although many environmental issues were inadequately assessed, or completely unaddressed in the SIES, DEP nonetheless approved the project the night before the POPP expired.

On August 30, 2007 Riverkeeper filed suit against DEP for failing to uphold its duty as lead agency to take a hard look at environmental impacts. Neighboring property owners have joined Riverkeeper in its Article 78 Petition seeking annulment of the project approvals. The case is now before the Putnam County Supreme Court.